- Ski Amadé
The Ski Amadé region of
Austria is a network of 28 ski areas and towns that combined, make up the largest ski area inEurope . It is named after the composerWolfgang Amadeus Mozart who was born in the city ofSalzburg .Background
The resorts are linked, either by ski lifts or by free shuttle buses with journeys lasting no longer than 20 minutes.
There are 860 km of downhill slopes and 278 modern ski lifts. There are several new ski lifts and slopes opening in 2007.
The highest ski lift in the region is at the
Dachstein Glacier with an altitude of 2,700 m.There are over 700 km of marked cross country
Nordic skiing tracks.The Five Regions
The resorts are made up of 28 villages in five principal regions that make up the alliance. The five regions are:
Salzburger Sportwelt ,Dachstein Tauern ,Gastein ,Hochkönigs Winterreich andGrossarl Valley .Geography
The ski region stretches from the south-east of
Salzburg to the upperStyria nEnnstal , including the impressive mountain ranges ofSteinernes Meer ,Hochkönig ,Dachstein and Tauernkamm.The region is a 45-minute drive from
Salzburg or an hours train journey on theÖBB , Austria's national rail company.Being in the
Eastern Alps , thus being colder than the Western Alps the region has a good record of snowfall during the winter months.Interesting facts
*The alliance resort of
Planai was chosen as the best skiing region in Europe by the London "Daily Mail ".
*The resorts ofSchladming /Planai, Flachau andZauchensee all have runs which are used for the annualAlpine Skiing World Cup circuit.
*Hermann Maier who has won four overall World Cup titles, two Olympic gold medals, three World Championship titles and 53 races in the Alpine Skiing World Cup circuit is from theAustrian Three Valleys area ofAlpendorf ,Wagrain and Flachau. With 53 champion races he is only second in place to being defined as the world's greatest skier; in front of him isIngemar Stenmark fromSweden who has 86 victories.
*Scenes from the classic film "The Sound of Music" were filmed around theSalzburger Sportwelt region of the alliance. One scene in particular, whereJulie Andrews is singing as she walks along a grassy verge was filmed near the resort ofAlpendorf .
*The resort ofBad Gastein as highly renowned amongst health conscious Austrians for itsmineral water as it is for its extensiveskiing .External links
* [http://www.skiamade.com Ski Amadé Alliance website (German with English option)]
* [http://www.39.salzburgersportwelt.com/f_homepage...2.html?_lang=en Salzburger Sportwelt Region]
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