Saalbach-Hinterglemm or St. Anton: two steep, lively Austrians, and the one with the height
The Ski Snug teamUpdated 12 October 20266 min read
Saalbach-Hinterglemm and St. Anton are both big, lively Austrian resorts where the après is half the reason people go. Our similarity engine pairs them too: each is the other's second closest match of all the resorts we cover, and what carries over is the buzz and the share of steep piste. On that row, which surprises people who think of Saalbach as the easy option, they are almost level.
Where they part is height, and what kind of skiing fills the rest of the mountain. Saalbach is a sunny circuit of villages, low and easy to travel round, with a lot of piste. St. Anton is higher, harder and famous for what lies off the piste. So the question is how much you will gamble on the snow, and whether your group wants the circuit or the off piste. The numbers first.
The numbers, side by side
| Figure | Saalbach-Hinterglemm | St. Anton |
|---|---|---|
| Village altitude | 1,003 m | 1,304 m |
| Top of the skiing, measured | 2,090 m | 2,799 m |
| Linked ski area | The Skicircus, with Leogang and Fieberbrunn, size not yet classified by us | The Arlberg, with Lech and Zürs, size not yet classified by us |
| Piste we measure around the village | 192 km | 155 km |
| Blue and easier | 122 km, 64% of the piste | 66 km, 42% of the piste |
| Black | 12 km | 24 km |
| Marked off piste itinerary | 12 km | 70 km |
| Piste steeper than one in four | 42% | 43% |
| Piste gentler than 15% | 31% | 24% |
| Piste at or above 1,800 m | 19% | 71% |
| Season | December to April | December to April |
| Nearest airport | Salzburg or Innsbruck | Innsbruck or Zurich |
The steep row is a draw. The altitude rows are not, and neither is the off piste.
Altitude: St. Anton has the height, and the snow that comes with it
St. Anton's village sits at 1,304 metres, 301 above Saalbach's 1,003. On the mountain the gap widens: St. Anton's skiing reaches 2,799 metres by our measure, Saalbach's 2,090. Half of St. Anton's piste is above 1,984 metres. Half of Saalbach's is above 1,569.
That decides the snow question on our measure. St. Anton is snow sure: 71 percent of the piste we measure is above 1,800 metres, up to 2,799 metres. Saalbach is not. Fifty eight percent of its piste is above 1,500 metres, but only 19 percent is above 1,800 and almost none of it is above 2,000. Our guide credits Saalbach's north facing slopes and its snowmaking with holding the cover well, and in a normal winter it skis well. But in a warm one, the height is not there to fall back on.
Nobody can promise snow anywhere. If you are booking months ahead without knowing what the winter will do, St. Anton gives you far better odds.
Size: Saalbach has more piste, St. Anton more of the serious kind
Neither area's total is classified in our data yet, so we compare on what we measure ourselves, the piste around each village from the run geometry. Saalbach has 192 kilometres, the seventh most of the 55 resorts we cover. St. Anton has 155, still well above the 116 at a typical resort, with Lech and Zürs on the same pass.
What fills those kilometres differs. Saalbach has 122 kilometres of blue and easier piste, the sixth most of the 55 we cover and nearly twice St. Anton's 66. St. Anton has nearly twice the black, 24 kilometres to 12, and 70 kilometres of marked off piste itinerary, the most of any resort we cover. Saalbach has 12.
So the mileage is at Saalbach, and its signature is the circuit: a loop round the valley through the villages and back, which you can ski either way in a day. The depth is at St. Anton, especially for anyone who wants to leave the groomed runs with a guide.
The skiing: steep at both, steeper per run at Saalbach
On the share of piste steeper than one in four, the two are all but level: 43 percent at St. Anton, the joint second biggest of the 55 resorts we cover, and 42 at Saalbach, the fourth. The typical resort we cover has 26. Both grade the Austrian way, so the colours compare fairly here, but the gradients tell you more.
122 km blue and easier 64%58 km red 30%12 km black 7%
66 km blue and easier 42%65 km red 42%24 km black 15%
Marked off piste itinerary, kept out of the piste totals: Saalbach-Hinterglemm 12 km, St. Anton 70 km.
These are averages per run segment, and a run's grade is set by its steepest pitch, so read them as how a week feels. Grade for grade, Saalbach measures steeper. Its reds average 27.8 percent, the steepest of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover, against 25.8 at St. Anton and an Austrian average of 23.4. Its blacks average 36.9, the third steepest of all 55 we cover, against 34.1. Its blues average 17.8 against 17.5. Saalbach's blacks are fewer, but they are no gentler.
Where St. Anton is harder is at the easy end: there is less of it. Only 24 percent of its piste is gentler than 15 percent, and only four of the 55 resorts we cover have less. Saalbach has 31 percent, and far more blue running in total.
Who each one actually suits
Saalbach-Hinterglemm suits groups of friends who want big mileage and a big afternoon, and families who want the same holiday at a gentler volume. The two villages split the job. Saalbach is the lively one, compact, with its bars a short walk apart and the music up by late afternoon. Hinterglemm, further up the valley, is quieter and good for children. Plenty of beds are on or close to the piste, and the circuit means a group can travel all day without retracing its steps. Salzburg is the usual airport.
St. Anton suits confident skiers who want long, testing days, and groups for whom the après is a fixed part of the day. The big bars sit on the piste above the village, and the run home goes past them. Above, Galzig, the Valluga and Rendl across the valley give the skiing its range, and the off piste is some of the most celebrated in the Alps. For calmer nights, base in Nasserein or St. Jakob. The railway station in the village makes getting there by train easy.
The bit nobody tells you
Saalbach is the family pick of these two, and on easy kilometres it earns it. But its blues are not soft. They average 17.8 percent, the joint fourth steepest of the 55 resorts we cover, above St. Anton's 17.5 and well above the Austrian average of 16.4. A child or an adult in their first week off the nursery slopes will find plenty of blue at Saalbach, and some of it will feel like a step up.
None of that is a reason to avoid it. It is a reason to book ski school, start on the nursery areas around Hinterglemm and build up, rather than assume every blue on the circuit is a cruise. For a confident group, the same fact is good news: Saalbach's pistes have real bite all the way through.
So, which one
you want the most piste, plenty of easy running for the less confident, a circuit to ski round and lively evenings, and you are happy to book midwinter and trust the snowmaking. Families do well in Hinterglemm.
your group skis well, wants the off piste, more black and the height, and sees the après as part of the plan.
The share of steep is near enough the same at both, and St. Anton adds the height, the snow sure piste and the most marked off piste we cover. Saalbach is the right answer for a mixed group that wants mileage over altitude, booked in the heart of the winter.