The Ski Circus is Europe’s largest

Saalbach  - Hinterglemm Leogang -  Fieberbrunn is tops for all.

 It is easy to run out of superlatives when comparing mega ski regions. All have their claimed advantages, but only one I know has all and it is the Ski Circus because it offers ski and board fun for all – and each of the ski villages are properly linked and different. For visitors arriving at beautiful and nearby Salzburg, it only takes an hour to get to your ski paradise, which boasts –

• PURE freeride pleasure and guaranteed snow
• FUN for all the family and great for mixed ability groups
• PERFECT links between every resort - and arguably the best and most modern  ski lifts in the Alps.
• NEW this season – a link with over-the-mountain Zell am See and Kaprun (glacier) via the Viehofen ZellamSee Express.
• HARDLY surprising the region is candidate for the next FIS World Ski Championships (like football’s world Cup).

Here’s what you also will find -

• 140 km of blue, easy runs for beginners
• 112 km of red cruising fun runs for intermediates
• 18 km of difficult black runs for the more advanced
• 60 mountain huts and various snowparks, plus
• Floodlit pistes, toboggan runs and a freeride park
• One of Austria’s most diverse areas, which has additionally -
• Ski movie, speed and race tracks and
• The longest and fastest speed rope in the world!
• Excellent accommodation in all areas, with fabulous hotels to suit every pocket, right down to gust houses and hostels
• Perfect destination for non-skiers and mountain walkers
• And for anyone wanting even more – they can get a combined ticket to take in the extensive runs in Zell am See-Kaprun!

FREERIDE MECCA

The pristine snow everywhere in the circus makes it a freeride playground and the only sound you will hear is the swish and swoosh of your own edges as you zoom down countless pistes and freeride runs.The recent lift connection over to Fieberbrunn in the Tirol adds well to the mix, as it turns the resorts into a freeride Mecca, where fans will find Freeride parks with every difficulty as well as avalanche transceivers and check-points.

CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING

This is also a fabulous region for Nordic (cross-country) enthusiasts as you can don skinny skis and glide to your heart’s content  and there is also the major new Nordic Park at Saalfelden Leogang, where there are many kilometers of  tracks. Over at Saalfelden the Nordic Park at Ritzensee has networks of runs for enthusiasts and biathletes, a 1.8km floodlit track, as well as hiking trails. And restaurants abound for re-fueling.

But daddy of all X-country areas is at Fieberbrunn, where there are 45km of tracks, and you can glide over to nearby Hochfilzen  to the tracks built for the World Biathlon Championships. Remember to take your rifle!

MORE THAN SKIING

More for the action fanatics – go to Leogang’s Flying Fox XXL at the Asitz, where you can reach speeds of 130kph (80 miles an hour) on the 1.6 km steel wire, the world’s fastest. And just over the mountain at Saalbach Hinterglemm is Europe’s highest Treetop Trail, where you can combine with a visit to the Golden Gate Bridge of the Alps – a truly unique project.

And the action never stops here – as the resorts boast every activity known to snow –

• Tobogganing
• Skating on the frozen lake, and at the The Ritzensee and in the Sportzentrum rink in Saalbach Hinterglemm.
• Snowshoeing all over the snowy mountain and the foothills above the region’s most scenic resort.
• Winter walking and curling, plus warm bathing at Fieberbrunn, where there are excellent children’s facilities.
• Great to stay (sub head)

Great hotels and restaurants abound all over the region, so a traveller cannot go wrong. Then there is the cuisine – often local delicacies which are tasty and absolutely filling. Prepare to refuel with menus to suit every palate – Specknodel, Kasnocken, and Salzburger knockl (a giant custard-type cake with vanilla sauce). Yummy. Can’t wait.

No guilt skiing as lifts power hotels

Another brilliant Green move from the Skicircus region of Saalbach Hinterglemm Leogang Fieberbrunn – some hotels are powered by heat generated by the ski gondolas and cable cars. Cable car company Leoganger Bergbahnen is helping the Green effort by heating communities with neighbouring hotels in Hütten, and using heat recovery in lift motors to heat the surrounding rooms and buildings. “This has helped us reduce our energy consumption by 68%,” says lift group director Christian Oberlader. (Kl can use Mr Ugly pic as he gives us free passes)

Since these changes were introduced, the Steinbergbahn gondola lift alone has saved around 245,000 kilowatt hours per year, amounting to €23,500. The Asitzbahn gondola lift has managed to save no less than €38,500. This environmentally-friendly energy concept saw the region honoured by the state of Salzburg in 2012 and 2016.  Meanwhile the snow goes on – and the lift chiefs have effected comprehensive hydraulic and electrical upgrades to snow-making facilities and cable car systems to further boost efficiency.