A winter vacation in Salzburg is more than a ski vacation. This picturesque old city offers an extraordinary cultural experience and serves as a fantastic base for skiing more than 100 resorts throughout “Land Salzburg.” Salzburg is located on the site of the Roman town Javavum, once an important crossroad in the empire. The beautiful baroque city that you see today was built in the 17th and 18th centuries. Museums and palaces bear witness to the city’s fascinating history.

Salzburg is a city, not a resort. But the surrounding area offers skiers and snowboarders just about any type of terrain that they could want. There are a number of different ski areas to explore. The Amadé Sports Region includes the scenic resorts of Altenmark-Zauchensee, Wagrain, Filzmoos, and Kleinarl. The Gastein Valley is home to three popular resorts: the spa resort of Bad Gastein, the quieter town of Hofgastein, and the family-oriented Dorfgastein. The Europa Sports Region includes the well-known resorts of Zell am See and Kaprun, and the scenic Hohe Tauern National Park provides many resorts at lower elevations. There are also ski safari programs that make it easier to ski several of the resorts in one trip.

The ski season in Land Salzburg generally runs from mid-December to mid-April, with year-round skiing available at the Kaprun glacier. About 60 percent of the resorts in the overall region are best suited for intermediates, with over 80 mountains to ski. Advanced skiers find fun off-trail terrain at Bad Gastein, Leogang, and Saalbach and for an even greater thrill there are off-trail glacier tours at Altenmarkt/Zauchensee, and the Kitzstein Glacier near Zell am See. While most of the resorts in the area are small, skiers will find challenging, varied terrain within a short distance of Salzburg.

The Salzburg Super Ski Card is valid in 22 ski regions in Land Salzburg covering 2,000 kilometers (1,250 miles) of trails. Passes are available for anywhere between three and 14 days. The Amadé lift pass is valid in 28 ski destinations covering 860 kilometers (538 miles) of trails. Skiers can travel by ski shuttle between different resorts for €13 (US $16).

Saalbach-Hinterglemm is one of the most popular resorts in the area for snowboarders. There are two half-pipes, a boardercross, and a funpark that is lit at night. There are 12 kilometers (eight miles) of terrain dedicated only to snowboarders. There are also funparks at Bad Hofgastein, Flachau, Saalfelden, and Grossarl. There’s plenty of off-trail terrain, but boarders must be aware of avalanche risks. There are lessons available to instruct boarders on survival techniques as well as the finer points of snowboarding.

Cross-country skiing enthusiasts enjoy over 220 kilometers (137 miles) of trails in the Wagrain Region, 76 kilometers (47 miles) of trails at Abtenau, and over 200 kilometers (124 miles) of cross-country trails in the scenic Hohe Tauern National Park. Ice climbing is available for those who prefer to scale the frozen stuff rather than ski down it. Climbers can sign up for tours and receive instruction before heading out. Advanced climbers love the Salzach Gorge and waterfalls located 30 kilometers (19 miles) from Salzburg.

Most resorts in Land Salzburg have toboggan runs. Some of the best in the area are at Bad Hofgastein, Saalbach-Hinterglemm, and Wagrain. Most resorts also offer horse-drawn sleigh rides. Many companies offer sleigh rides in the Grossarl Valley and in Bad Gastein, some of which include a stop for snacks at a mountain inn.

Après-ski is lively throughout Austria and the Salzburg region is no exception. Saalbach has a reputation as the best of the resorts for rowdy nightlife. There are almost 40 bars keeping the night alive. Zell am See is also a good spot for those who like to party. Bad Gastein draws an older, more serene après-ski clientele. In Salzburg itself, there’s a wide range of nightlife opportunities. In the bars that line the left side of the Salzach River, you’ll find everything from Irish music to heavy metal. Along the Steingasse are numerous bistros and bars, among many others in the Old City.

One of the main perks of staying in Salzburg is the abundance of cultural events and activities to experience. Salzburg is known for being the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and the city celebrates his life in many ways. From Mozart Square to Mozart’s birthplace, there are ample opportunities to learn more about the composer. Salzburg’s Old City is listed on UNESCO’s list of world cultural heritage sites and is always popular with sightseers. There are excellent museums in Salzburg including the Museum of Natural Science in the center of the Old City.

With so many Austrian traditions to learn about and enjoy, Salzburg is the perfect choice for vacationers looking for a cultural experience in addition to first-rate skiing.

* Pyrenees continue to report incredible snowfall
* Over Two Metres Of New Snow In 7 Days At Some Swiss Resorts
* Heavy snow in Sicily and at Rome’s ski areas.
* North American snow focus moves from east to west coasts

While healthy snowfalls are continuing in many parts of the Alps, as well as in Western North America and even Japan, it’s the Pyrenees that continue to be the big snow success story of winter 2008-9.

In the French Pyrenees snow depths have reached five metres (17 feet) in some resorts. Laure Angla Gré manager of Gourette ski area which has a 450cm (15 foot) base on upper slopes stated, “We have exceptional snow coverage this year. On February 11th alone we received 120cm (four feet) of snow in 24 hours. We have to get the snow controlled and safe quickly for holiday makers and for the first time used a technique called “héligrenadage” to reduce the avalanche risk. This involves setting off 12 explosive charges from a helicopter.”

Cauterets ski area in the French Pyrenees has been digging out its ski lifts after huge snow falls in recent days. More than five feet (160cm) on snow fell on 11-12 February and the total in the past seven days has passed 280cm (nearly 10 feet). Season long accumulated snow depths for the resort are currently standing at over five metres (17 feet).

Elsewhere in the Pyrenees snowfalls have not been quite so massive in the past week, but the ski areas of Andorra and Spain are still sitting on 2-3m (7-10 feet) bases and are well placed to offer skiing top the scheduled end of the season in April and potentially beyond if they wish to extend their opening.

It has also been snowing a lot in recent days in the Northern Alps region of France and to a lesser extent in the Jura and Massif Central regions. It is also still snowing heavily in Austria, German and Switzerland with many resorts receiving more than a metre of new snow in the past week.

Switzerland had the largest falls of all with Sörenberg reporting an incredible 210cm (seven feet) of snow falling in the past seven days (the biggest fall of 60cm/two feet yesterday, February 17th). St-Cergue La Dôle came close with 200cm (6.6 feet), 50 cm of which also fell yesterday. Zermatt continues to have the biggest snow depth in Europe and probably the world with 7.12m (24 feet) on the glacier.

In Austria the greatest snowfall of the past week has accumulated at the Zugspitzplatt Ehrwald which reports 135cm (over four feet) of new snow. Salbach Hinterglemm Leogang added 80cm (nearly three feet); the SkiWelt (including Söll and Going) 70cm (over two feet) and St. Anton am Arlberg 55cm (nearly two feet).

The Kleinwalsertal area on the boarder between Austria and Germany received 65cm (Over two feet) of new snow in the past week, which according to Ralf Köberle of Kleinwalsertal Tourismus is, “Natural snow of the best quality – so our snowmakers take a break.”

The resorts with the most snow in the country now have nearly four metre (13 feet) depths. However it’s imperative to stay on the piste for the time being rather than heading out in to the deep powder as the overall avalanche situation stays critical with a general risk level of 4 (high) on Wednesday and level 3 (considerable) on Thursday. Spontaneous avalanches are possible in areas with lots of fresh snow.

Germany had loads of fresh snow, too. The number of resorts that have a snow base of more than a metre doubled in the past week, with many adding at least 50cm in the seven days and several adding at least a metre. The Zugspitzplatt at Garmisch, which now looks forward to hosting the World Alpine Skiing Championships in two years time following the conclusion of the Val d’Isere Championships at the weekend, has the most snow in the country with a 330cm (11 foot) snow depth. Alpsee Bergwelt and Balderschwang were amongst the resorts reporting the most new snow in the past week, up by 140cm (4.6 feet) and 120cm (4 feet) respectively.

In Italy most of the snow in the past week has been in the centre and south of the country causing traffic disruption as far south as Sicily, which has several small ski areas.

Campo Felice-Rocca di Cambio in the Abruzzo region, one of Rome’s local ski areas, received 25cm (8 Inches) of new snow whilst Ussita / Frontignano in Marche region got the most in the country with 50cm (20 inches) more snow.

It’s still snowing in the major ski areas to the north too though with La Thuile and Courmayeur in the NW of the country receiving 40cm/16 inches and 20cm/8 inches respectively. The Presena Glacier above Passo Tonale and Arabba on the Sella Ronda still have the most snow in the country with 550cm (18 feet) and 480cm (16 feet) respectively.

In Scandinavia there was a small amount of new snow at several resorts over the weekend and up to 30cm (a foot) more snow is expected this week.

In Eastern Europe there has also been some fresh snow with forecasts projecting more for Bulgaria, Slovenia and Romania in the coming days.

It’s not such good news in Scotland where after last week’s spectacular snowfalls, temperatures shot up to 13 degrees Celsius at sea level in northern Scotland and were significantly above freezing on the ski slopes above too, leading to rapid thawing of the snow. Fortunately most ski areas have such deep bases, by Scottish standards, the snow is still providing good cover on upper slopes and temperatures are forecast to drop through the week, slowing and possibly stopping the thaw.
However Cairngorm is reporting bare patches and more rocks showing through and Nevis Range say that lower runs back to the top of the gondola are getting narrow. Glenshee reports, “Most runs have good cover with soft snow on a firm base. Some high traffic areas are getting scraped thin and with thawing temperatures bare patches are appearing on some runs.”

In North America it’s also all change with resorts in California on the West Coast reporting falls of up to six feet in the past week, whilst on the East Coast an unseasonable warm snap has led to daytime melting of snow accumulations in some New England resorts. So far this season New England had been having an above average snow season and the West Coast a below average one.

“We had 15 trails that had snowmaking on Saturday morning, and by the afternoon we had about 11 trails with snowmaking, and we’ll certainly continue throughout the week,” said Bridget Hinman, marketing manager for Whiteface Mountain in New York state.

After limited snowfall by Mammoth’s standards during the first three months of its long season, the world famous Californian resort has made up for it big time receiving more than half the season total in the first two weeks of February. That season total is now nearly eight metres (300 inches) but Mammoth has received 165cm (five-and-a-half feet) in the first half of February. The resort’s current base depth of 240-390cm (8-13 feet) means Mammoth will now stay open in to May with a possibility of remaining open into June or July if conditions permit.

In Colorado the new snow has been less dramatic but it is falling. Beaver Creek and Vail have reported aover 30cm (a foot) of new snow each in the past week with the former receiving 21cm (seven inches) of lucky new powder last Friday, 13th February.

Further afield, Japanese ski areas are also reporting “amazing snow falls” throughout January making for a solid three metre (ten feet) plus base at the leading resort of Niseko. The Kutchan Yukitopia Festival is held on the 21st and 22nd February and includes some unique events like the ‘Great Water Trial’ and the ‘Human Donkey Race’ – both not to be missed!

Big snowfalls have continued in the Pyrenees as well as in the Northern Alps, particularly Switzerland.

While healthy snowfalls are continuing in many parts of the Alps, as well as in Western North America and even Japan, it’s the Pyrenees that continue to be the big snow success story of winter 2008-9.

In the French Pyrenees snow depths have reached five metres (17 feet) in some resorts. Laure Angla Gré manager of Gourette ski area which has a 450cm (15 foot) base on upper slopes stated, “We have exceptional snow coverage this year. On February 11th alone we received 120cm (four feet) of snow in 24 hours. We have to get the snow controlled and safe quickly for holiday makers and for the first time used a technique called “héligrenadage” to reduce the avalanche risk. This involves setting off 12 explosive charges from a helicopter.”

Cauterets ski area in the French Pyrenees has been digging out its ski lifts after huge snow falls in recent days. More than five feet (160cm) on snow fell on 11-12 February and the total in the past seven days has passed 280cm (nearly 10 feet). Season long accumulated snow depths for the resort are currently standing at over five metres (17 feet).

It has also been snowing a lot in recent days in the Northern Alps region of France and to a lesser extent in the Jura and Massif Central regions. It is also still snowing heavily in Austria, German and Switzerland with many resorts receiving more than a metre of new snow in the past week.

Switzerland had the largest falls of all with Sörenberg reporting an incredible 210cm (seven feet) of snow falling in the past seven days (the biggest fall of 60cm/two feet yesterday, February 17th). Zermatt continues to have the biggest snow depth in Europe and probably the world with 7.12m (24 feet) on the glacier.

In Austria the greatest snowfall of the past week has accumulated at the Zugspitzplatt Ehrwald which reports 135cm (over four feet) of new snow. Salbach Hinterglemm Leogang added 80cm (nearly three feet); the SkiWelt (including Söll and Going) 70cm (over two feet) and St. Anton am Arlberg 55cm (nearly two feet).

In Italy most of the snow in the past week has been in the centre and south of the country causing traffic disruption as far south as Sicily, which has several small ski areas. Campo Felice-Rocca di Cambio in the Abruzzo region, one of Rome’s local ski areas, received 25cm (8 Inches) of new snow whilst Ussita / Frontignano in Marche region got the most in the country with 50cm (20 inches) more snow. It’s still snowing in the major ski areas to the north too though with La Thuile and Courmayeur in the NW of the country receiving 40cm/16 inches and 20cm/8 inches respectively.

In Scandinavia there was a small amount of new snow at several resorts over the weekend and up to 30cm (a foot) more snow is expected this week.

In Eastern Europe there has also been some fresh snow with forecasts projecting more for Bulgaria, Slovenia and Romania in the coming days.

It’s not such good news in Scotland where after last week’s spectacular snowfalls, temperatures shot up to 13 degrees Celsius at sea level in northern Scotland and were significantly above freezing on the ski slopes above too, leading to rapid thawing of the snow.

In North America it’s also all change with resorts in California on the West Coast reporting falls of up to six feet in the past week, whilst on the East Coast an unseasonable warm snap has led to daytime melting of snow accumulations in some New England resorts. So far this season New England had been having an above average snow season and the West Coast a below average one.

Further afield, Japanese ski areas are also reporting “amazing snow falls” throughout January making for a solid three metre (ten feet) plus base at the leading resort of Niseko.