Saalbach-Hinterglemm

Free, and worth knowing

The Guest Mobility Ticket. Every guest is handed a Guest Mobility Ticket at check in and it covers all public transport in the province of Salzburg for the length of the stay. It arrives in the Home of Lassig app wallet from the day of arrival, and the accommodation has to register you in advance for it to appear, so ask the hotel to do that before you travel rather than at the desk.

The ski bus, free with a ski pass. The valley bus runs the Glemmtaler Landesstrasse between Viehhofen and Lengau, stopping at every stop on the road, every twenty or thirty minutes depending on the season. Ski pass holders ride free to and from the lift stations, and separate shuttles run Schonleiten to Mitterlengau and Viehhofen to Schonleiten on their own dates. It is the reason a guest here can stay at one end of the valley and use the other.

Free guided winter walks, up to twice a day. The resort runs guided winter walks free of charge, up to two a day, with a state certified walking guide. It is a real free activity with a named person behind it rather than a brochure line, and it is the easiest way for somebody travelling alone or arriving without a plan to spend a morning outdoors in company.

A hundred and forty kilometres of winter walking. The headline figure for the valley, cleared and signposted, with an interactive winter hiking map and a separate winter trail running map published online. Pack a pair of spikes or grips for the boots, because the resort's own standing notice warns of black ice on some of the trails and recommends carrying them. Anybody who wants to start a walk from the top of a gondola buys the Sun Ticket or a single return.

The cross country trail at the valley head. The Glemmtal valley trail starts opposite the B4 Zwolfer-Nordbahn base station, runs along the Talschlusspromenade and gently up and down to Lengau, then about five hundred flat metres past the Hotel Lengauerhof across the meadows, and finishes with two continuously uphill kilometres to the Lindlingalm. Use of all the trails is free and there is parking at the start. After heavy snow the trails are groomed in the afternoon, because clearing the roads and the walking paths comes first, so a late start is the better plan on a snowy morning.

The Fairytale Forest. A built forest walk of well known fairy tales, Mother Hulda and Little Red Riding Hood among them, right beside the Sports Centre in Hinterglemm. It is illuminated in the evening and the official line is that it is accessible at all times, so it works after dinner as well as in the middle of the afternoon. It is also one of the stamps on the Kids Winter Challenge, and the only one of the five that is genuinely free.

What the ski pass already covers. Night skiing is in the ticket and the ski pass page says so twice. The main floodlit run is the A9 Unterschwarzach in Hinterglemm, 1,051 m long with a 314 m drop and graded an easy blue, and there are two more, at the L12 Schantei lift in the middle of Leogang and at F5 in Fieberbrunn. A ticket bought from one day is valid from three o'clock the previous afternoon, floodlit slopes included.

Timok's Alpine Coaster, free with any lift ticket. A 1,160 metre two seater alpine coaster with a 115 metre drop from the F1 Streuboden middle station in Fieberbrunn, fitted with a rain cover so it runs in bad weather, and you control your own speed on the way down. Use of it is included in the price of every valid lift ticket, whether a ski pass or a single ticket, which nobody advertises anywhere.

The Kids Winter Challenge. A punch card for children, the winter version of the summer hiking challenge. Symbols are collected at the Treetop Trail, in the Fairytale Forest, on the two illuminated toboggan runs, at three summit crosses and on the funslopes and snow trails, and a completed card handed in at the tourist office earns the child a medal. The flyer and the control card are a free download, so it can be printed before anybody travels.

A few of the rest

The Reiterkogel toboggan run. The main run, and the one that matters, because it finishes in the middle of Hinterglemm and you walk home from the bottom of it. Three point two kilometres, a four hundred metre drop, five metres wide, reached on the D1 Reiterkogel lift which is in the ski pass including the night ascent. It is floodlit on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday evenings, which is the reason to build an evening around it. 20 to 50 euros.

The Spielberghaus, snowcat up and three kilometres down. This is the Austrian hut and toboggan evening in its purest form and it is really cheap. A piste basher collects you from the Staumauer Spielberg path and takes you up to the Spielberghaus at 1,311 m, you eat, and then you sledge three kilometres of illuminated natural run back into Saalbach. Ring ahead, because reservation by phone is essential and the family run the whole thing themselves. Under 20 euros.

The Golden Gate Bridge of the Alps and the Baumzipfelweg. The suspension bridge does open in winter, and this was worth checking properly. From the Talschluss car park at the head of the valley a natural circular route runs two kilometres over meadows and through forest, and at the Lindlingalm the one kilometre Baumzipfelweg begins: a six hundred metre larchwood walkway up to thirty metres above the forest floor, with steps, towers, platforms, bridges and play stations in the treetops for children. Under 20 euros.