Saalbach Hinterglemm

Saalbach and Hinterglemm are separate villages with their centres 4km apart.  These villages have expanded along the floor of their dead-end east-west valley, but haven’t quite merged.  They have adopted a single marketing identity, a ‘ski-circus’ links the two, with lifts and runs on both sides of the valley. At the eastern end is a long-standing link to Leogang, in the next valley, and now from a point directly above Hinterglemm there is a new link with Fieberbrunn.

Saalbach is an attractive, characterful village, with traditional-style buildings close together around a classic onion-domed church.   Both villages are free of through-traffic, and both are lively from mid-afternoon until the early hours.  Saalbach is more convenient than most Austrian villages, with lifts into three sectors of the slopes starting close to the village centre.  The result, if staying centrally, is near to an ideal blend of Austrian charm with French convenience. Hinterglemm also has lifts and runs close to the centre, and offers quick access to some of the most interesting slopes – and, importantly, to most of the north-facing runs.
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Kitzbuhel

Think of Kitzbühel and you conjure up the Hahnenkamm, the meanest and scariest downhill race on the World Cup circuit.  Each January the world’s finest skiers gather in this beautiful medieval town in the heart of the Tirol to compete on Der Streif, the name of the actual race course on the Hahnenkamm mountain.

But in reality, away from this single crazy winter weekend, your Austria ski holiday in Kitzbühel is largely intermediate terrain that seems to go on forever. Even the Streif mellows into a Familienabfahrt – a family run – once the jumps have been removed.
This medieval silver-mining centre, with its heavily buttressed walls and delicate painted frescoes, rightly deserves its reputation as the most beautiful ski town in Europe. The pedestrianised Vorderstadt, the town centre inside the heavy old city walls, is set against a backdrop of the jagged teeth of the spectacular Wilder Kaiser Mountains. Old coaching inns now converted into four- and five-star hotels vie for space in the ancient streets alongside smart fashion boutiques and wickedly expensive cafés.
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Sölden

Sölden has excellent snow reliability, with access to two glaciers and some exceptionally long runs.  All is linked together with a fairly extensive network of slopes suited to adventurous intermediates.  The impressive lift system serves 145km of groomed runs and it does go high.  All sectors offer serious vertical and some long runs. It is 1,880m vertical and a claimed 15km from the top of the glacier to the village.  Other long runs, including from Gaislachkogl and Hainbachjoch are 8km to 10km.
There are two similar-sized ski areas above the town, linked by fast six person lifts out of  Rettenbachtal. At the south end of town, a gondola leads up to an impressive three-cable gondola to Gaislachkogl. The terrain above the mid-station is served by a fast six person and a double lift. There are links south towards Gaislachalm and north towards the Rettenbachtal.
Sölden is a long, towny place in the Ötz valley leading up to Obergurgl.
When buying a six-day lift pass you can opt to pay €10s extra for a day in nearby Obergurgl (the half-hourly buses are included in the lift pass). You can also get buses down the valley to Längenfeld where there is a big thermal spa.
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Ischgl

Bold, busy, and yes, a bit brash, is Ischgl.  The resort buzzes with a raucous sense of après enjoyment throughout the winter months.

Ischgl has only recently begun to acquire a strong following of international visitors. This has largely come about not just because of the quality of its pistes, but also because of its music. The world famous start- and end-of-season Top of the Mountain concerts attract an A-list of international stars that have so far included Elton John, Bob Dylan, Tina Turner, Deep Purple, Bon Jovi, Mariah Carey, and Kylie Minogue. The 2014/15 season’s opening concert was headlined by James Blunt, attracting some 24,000 people to the mid-mountain base of Idalp at 2,400m to watch him in action.

The 238km of pistes are served by 45 mainly modern lifts which also extend across the Swiss border to the Engadin resort of Samnaun. The main ways up the mountain are by heavyweight gondolas from both ends of Ischgl.  The slopes here best suit mileage-hungry intermediates who enjoy covering lots of ground each day before returning to the resort for some of the wildest table-dancing in the Alps.
Ischgl is also home to a 7km toboggan runs that drops 950m.

The regional lift pass also includes much quieter and more family-orientated Galtür and Kappl a few kilometres away up the valley. These provide alternative, less expensive bed bases and are connected with Ischgl by an efficient free bus service.

The village itself remains traditional Tirolean in style.
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