There is just always a good reason to hit the mountains and run down some slopes even though the winter season has mostly passed over here already. And the snow season was weird when looking back at it. I remember that the end of January the French Alps were nearly entirely locked by the crazy amount of snow that was coming that.
That continued more to the East in the middle of Febuary also giving Switzerland tons of snow and also the Vorarlberg region of Austria. But heading even further East in Austria, well let's say it wasn't the best of all seasons.
Over the last couple of weeks this even turned out with some classical spring weather with more than 15 degrees Celsius every day and that is the thing that makes snow disappear faster before you can even sneeze.
Even on the higher mountains this was the case so I was curious to see what was going on over there still.
Snowy peaks as far as you can see
And I know, heading to the mountains somewhere in March is a bit of a liability for the quality of snow when you are not in the highest regions, but honestly....You don't need a lot of inches of snow to still have a really good time!
Tactical planning
With that mindset that everything was going to be fine we headed out to Austria and honestly....it also was just fine. You really just need to be a bit more mindful about what happens throughout the day.
If the temperatures are that high during the day, well maybe just start a bit earlier then in the morning and leave it later on in the day when the snow is really starting to turn into slush.
Also maybe start in the morning with the slopes that are directed towards the South side, because with the current power of the sun those slopes are the ones that really have a rough time already quite early in the day.
Then later on turn to the North faced slopes and those are still fine later on in the day.
Ouch....
Look at this snap and make an educated guess on what side these slopes are on ;) Looks terrible right??
It might give you a good idea on where to hang out. Honestly, the piste guys did awesome jobs even maintaining these kinds of slopes, because they were actually still really good to use and still super fun.
Saalbach Hinterglemm
So I was in the Saalbach Hinterglemm region which isn't the highest of altitudes available there in the region, there is the glacier of Kaprun in the vicinity but that is usually so crowded that if you can stay out of there, that is usually the better option.
Saalbach Hinterglemm haa skiable region from like 1000 meters to 2100 meters which is actually just fine and mostly between the trees which gives really nice shelter and also contrast when it is foggy.
Luckily no foggy on these days so that was great to see!
Love the views
The cool thing about this region is that the towns of Saalbach and Hinterglemm are now connected to the towns of Leogang and Fieberbrunn all by lifts and slopes which means you have a really large region to ski and and the make some nice routes.
Because of so many towns being connected all together and there are a lot options from every town to head up, it actually never really feels crowded are there were literally 0 queues to be found.
Of course this could also have something to do with end of season things and a lot less people around, but I just was really impressed by the lift system over here.
Now this region isn't super challenging honestly when it comes to steep, but the real challenge was from the quality of the snow and not rigging any ACL while trying to make a turn somewhere where a little had already formed.
Sheer beauty
And the other real challenge is on where to have a beer afterwards as the Saalbach Hinterglemm region is also known for its very generously present apres ski which some would even call notorious. It was a rough couple of days I can tell you ;)
But the day after when stepping outside into the fresh crisp air again and having these kinds of views. Wow, the mountains really never get old and boring, but seeing them a bit earlier that end of March sometimes isn't such a bad idea!