Austria’s secret to spring skiing
THE good news for those of us who have discovered Fieberbrunn is that this small resort is now linked with the Saalbach-Hinterglemm ski area via a new gondola — the Tirol S.
This means that skiers looking for a quieter resort can still access one of the world’s biggest ski areas. And if they do fancy a night out on the town, the bright lights of Saalbach are a 45-minute taxi ride away.
This has not been a vintage year, but if you’re looking for last-minute spring skiing, then this is the real deal. The Fieberbrunn-Saalbach-Hinterglemm area stays open until early April.
Fieberbrunn is small and quaint — there are no apartment blocks or nightclubs and the entire place feels like the setting for a Bavarian fairy tale.
There’s a beautiful church: legend states that hundreds of years ago, a Tyrolean princess drank from its fountain and was cured of her fever. The incident prompted residents to name the village Fieberbrunn, meaning ‘fever fountain’.
It’s a ten-minute shuttle bus journey to the slopes from my base, which is the family-owned Hotel Schloss Rosenegg, a converted 400-year-old castle where one morning I’m scolded by a buxom Austrian waitress for arriving five minutes late for breakfast.
Early starts are certainly essential for anyone wishing to carve up a decent chunk of what is now Austria’s largest ski region.
With more than 180 miles of piste, almost half of these are blue slopes and the other half red, the rest black.
My advice? Visit Fieberbrunn now before the masses — and potentially an oligarch or two — discover its potential and spray their champagne all over its rustic charm.