When it comes to freeriding in the Salzburger Sportwelt, many riders focus on the highest resort of Zauchensee. However, the ski area that connects Flachau with its neighboring villages of Wagrain and St. Johann im Pongau also offers a variety of interesting smaller spots, for which you generally don't even have to make any climbs worth mentioning.
The biggest advantage for a few leisurely runs is Flachau's accessibility. Located right next to the Tauern highway, the route can be covered by car from Salzburg in just over 40 minutes. In three stages, futuristic-sounding lifts take you up to the 1991-metre-high Griessenkareck. On the ascent with the "Starjet 3", the shady summit flank catches the eye of every freerider on the left. The numerous tracks are already a sign that there must be a backside entry.
But we want to take a few photos first and we even find enough untracked terrain between the pistes. For freeriders, it's a real blessing that it's mainly families who spend their vacation in Flachau. Half an hour later, however, we want to find the entrance to the summit slope and take the somewhat hidden "Top-Liner-Lift" up to the broad ridge. As we pass the Wagreiner Haus, the unmistakable smell of grilled meat wafts into our noses. Sparerips from the BBQ, now we know what we can fill our hungry stomachs with after the run.
The minimal ascent can be seen directly from the mountain station. We quickly shoulder our skis and climb up to the summit cross. Under a blue sky, we let our gaze wander from the Tauern mountains to the Dachstein and the Hochkönig. A summit moment like this is always wonderful. The snow on the summit slope is still really fluffy thanks to its north-west exposure facing away from the sun. I start the run with a small jump, follow it with three or four medium turns, take a small cliff and head towards the valley in large radii. I continue downhill over domed terrain with some natural obstacles and return to the piste a few meters above the valley station of the "Space Jet 3". The tracks of a few locals reveal that you can apparently powder down to the valley in good snow conditions in the terrain to the left of the lift.
The next day, we want to explore the second part of the ski circuit: from Wagrain to St. Johann im Pongau. The "G-Link Gondola" spans the entire valley at an altitude of 1240 meters, creating a link between the two originally separate ski areas. The silhouette of the Sonntagskogel between Wagrain and St. Johann im Pongau has a more gentle appearance. With several short descents, we swing towards the Pongau. But here, too, our eyes are repeatedly drawn to the north-eastern slopes. There is a short off-piste run hidden at almost every elevation, which can be reached without any ascents. Especially in snowfall, there are countless smaller forest runs.
Conclusion: Flachau, Wagrain and St. Johann im Pongau will certainly continue to focus on families rather than freeriders in the future, but especially if you spend a week in the region, you should plan a day or two to explore the area and on a bad weather day, the wooded slopes are really great.
