The SkiWelt Wilder Kaiser-Brixental is the largest ski area in Austria, but has rarely been seen as a freeride spot to date. It will certainly never become the number one freeride attraction in the Kitzbühel Alps, but if you look closely, you will find some really good runs here too.
It's Friday morning at the end of January when we pull into the parking lot in Hopfgarten. It has snowed a few centimetres in the last few days and today blue skies are hovering over our heads. The two new gondola lifts take us quickly to the summit of the Hohe Salve, which the locals confidently describe as the most beautiful panoramic mountain in Tyrol. It goes without saying that we take a look in all directions before getting into our bindings.
For freeriders, the Salve is definitely the main attraction in the SkiWelt. We start the day with an easy warm-up run next to the piste on Hopfgarten territory. When we reach the summit again a few minutes later, we naturally want more. And this more possible lines can be found on the Salve on the slopes of the Keatalm.
As is so often the case, we stop a few times on our first run down to take a closer look at the cliffs. On the second ride, however, the spell is finally broken. We descend at full speed, two cliffs and a total of around 500 vertical meters of powder. Not bad for a well-known slope Eldorado.
At the end of the day, we head over to the southern slopes. After around 200 vertical meters, we leave the piste and head for the small neighbouring village of Moosen, where we parked a car in the morning. Through forests and across alpine meadows, we make one turn after another in the completely untracked snow. It's hard to believe that you can find such lonely slopes in the middle of the country's largest ski arena without much effort.
Text: Martin Hesse
