Saalbach-Hinterglemm/Fieberbrunn, Austria, Jan.27, 2017

Tony Crocker

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Today I showed Liz the itinerary I had skied Wednesday. We ascended the Schattberg Express, skied to the Sprinter lift, down to Hinterglemm and up to Zwolferkogel. Fraser Wilkin of weather-to-ski.com called for a Foehn wind today. It was not windy but it was warmer, perhaps topping out at 40F or so, enough to start softening the sunnier slopes. This proved ideal for the 3 late morning runs on Zwolferkogel and the midday runs on Hochalm.

View down valley past Hinterglemm from the #14 piste.
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View across to Hochalm from same spot.
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On our second Hochalm run the recommended Walleggalm restaurant is in view here at left.
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Lunch there.
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Walleggalm is more casual, cafeteria vs. waiter order at Panorama, but food quality is still excellent. What you see on the table (carrot/ginger soup, salad and cheese spaetzle) cost about the same as that beer plus a burger in many US resorts. Note the speaker in the background. Walleggalm had a DJ and it was a lively crowd. Liz will forever now associate “Sweet Caroline” with the Germans at our table dancing and singing along.

After lunch we skied the 25 and 27 pistes to Sunliner to get into Fieberbrunn.
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Overview of backside Fieberbrunn:
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The top chair ascends through that shady patch at the top. The gondola and piste ascend to the notch just right of the shady patch. Expansive ungroomed skiroutes are at left.

Liz at top of the gondola looking down front side of Fieberbrunn:
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We skied the F10 and F1 runs to the F11 t-bar. View down F1a toward Fieberbrunn base.
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We ascended the same pulse gondola I rode Wednesday. View from the top of that.
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The short F6 connector gondola at Fieberbrunn should be a favorite of eclipse chasers.
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We skied the backside of Fieberbrunn in near solitude about 3:40, nicely softened from being in the sun all day, then returned to Saalbach via piste 46.

We skied 30,200 vertical today. I reset my 4-day record at 132,100, my 5-day record at 157,300 and my 6-day record at 184,900.

For our last evening at Alpinresort Liz brought her camera to the indoor/outdoor pool, which rotates colors between green, blue and red.
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Always interesting to note that the surrounding scenery at a comparatively low-elevation region like Saalbach is considered undramatic for the Alps, whereas if that were North America, everyone would be saying "WOW, look at those jagged peaks and huge treeless expanses!"
:lol:

Also, as discussed in one of your other recent TRs: the value for your F&B dollar compared with the U.S.
 
jamesdeluxe":3553krcm said:
Always interesting to note that the surrounding scenery at a comparatively low-elevation region like Saalbach is considered undramatic for the Alps, whereas if that were North America, everyone would be saying "WOW, look at those jagged peaks and huge treeless expanses!"
:lol:

Just last night there's thread on Epic from someone in New England looking to go West in late March seeking great scenery as a priority with good skiing and good value at that time. I agreed with the consensus of Lake Louise but wondered if it would crack the top 10 in the Alps.

My first trip to the Alps was a brief one in summer 1999. We were in Hallstadt Austria where it rained for 2 days and later rode the Zugspitze tram. Less than a month after we got home Adam and I climbed Mt. Whitney. We thought it had an Alps-like ambience because we were 4,000 feet above tree line.
 
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