Hi there,
bit of a long shot but anybody in that general area about that time, as we are off on holiday there that week, and i have been granted a full bike day, as long as the better half gets a spa day.

If not any general info would be really appreciated, especially in regards to the Big-5 challenge as i feel this is the best ‘bang for your buck’ in one days worth of riding, cheers.

Just go to the bike park. It’s great fun.

Big 5 is worth doing if you only have the one day and want to see lots of the area. Can be a long day out, mind.

About six hours if you mess around/repeat sections and sit up at am Alm enjoying the sun.

Have holidayed there twice and done several day trips.

Did it a few years ago, it is a good if longish day out. When we did it, the descent from the Zwolferkogel in Hinterglemm was mostly fireroad and not worth the time it took, looking at the map it appears they had put in a new red route, so that would be an improvement.

We did Saalbach a few yers back and really enjoyed it, if fact probally on reflection one of the best days on a bike I’ve had.
Second day there we decided to do the big 5 as the hotel had put on a guide day and we thought it was a great way to get our bearing in the area.
As mentioned it’s a full day and despite the chair lifts requires a bit of pedalling.
We started out with about a group a group of 25 from the hotel in Hinterglem of mixed nationalities and bikes and went clockwise towards Leogang.
The guys on DH bikes were really struggling to the point where we knew we wouldn’t get round in time to catch the last chair lift, so our group of 5 split away from the main group to push ahead.
However this did mean we got lost a couple of times and meant we had trouble tracking down the little chairlift at the bottom end of the valley and found ourselves riding through underground car parks which felt weird.
Things to remember –
You only get one run on the lift out of Leogang on your day pass.
Do stop for a beer and enjoy the views but just the one 🙂 ok maybe two.
Big powerful brakes ftw, I got more fatigued from trying to slow down than from pedalling and I really don’t like pedalling uphill.
Damp grass is like glass when it’s on a steep hill, locking a wheel means accelerated, very unexpected.
Wear sunscreen for the slow bits and pads for the quick bits.
Take and drink plently of fluids as you feel it towards the end of a long day.
The trail from the station on the top left of the valley back into Hinterglem is awsome, went back a couple of times later in the week to ride this one.

Enjoy

Where are you stu8t?

Could send you a map so you can get a heads up before you go.

One of the best runs I’ve ever done was by taking x-line lift. Push up to the next peak on made trail. Descend into Hinterglemm. Think this is the one jes is talking about. Most of the DH people don’t like the push up so it’s not as hammered as x line for instance.

Big 5 is a big day out.

X line a couple of times,
Top of x-line to Hinterglemm,
Z line in Hinterglemm would be enough of a day for me.

I could spend a fortnight in Saalbach/Hinterglemm/Leogang.

Just got back a couple of weeks ago.

Didn’t do the Big 5 but kind of wish I had done, but a mixture of wet days and bike issues the last 2 days (I damaged the fork stantions!) kind of reduced my riding.

Didn’t do the X-Line as looked a bit too DH orientated initially but after a few trips up the Cable car over it in the last few days I should have given it a go (I ride a Trek Rumblefish 29er with 120mm travel).

Best run for me was the Hacklberg Trail which runs from the top of the X-Line to Hinterglemm (actually runs from the next peak so you need to ride/push up to the start). Due to weather part of it was closed off as it’s new this year, very little fire road now as I believe in the past there was much more.
Z-Line is fun and in my opinion easier and more enjoyable to ride than both the beginner runs of the Blue and the Milka, the Milka in particular has more braking bumps than Cannock this year (it was much better last year).

The important thing is to make sure your hotel has the Joker card, otherwise it can get very expensive on the cable cars.

Link to my poor riding on the Hackleberg Trail from about 8min45 to 13m30 I was bypassing the closed section by using one very old section and the fireroads, you can see the new bits to the right occasionally.

Thanks for all the info guys, been checking out YouTube videos of various lines and trails, the long range forcast looks a bit grim, so it might be just get up one nice morning and going for a few runs until the weather goes south, ill be hiring a bike anyway so the big 5 would probably be a stupid idea solo in unfamiliar surroundings with seriously unpredictable weather.

On a similar note what else is there to do in the area, as we will be going with our twin 3 year old daughters, and although the hotel has lots on we’rean outdoor family and like to get out and about.

Bit delayed but..

If your hotel is in the ‘joker’ card scheme there are a lot of free activities.

Just had a look for the leaflet my hotel handed out with all the activities but cant find it. A lot of the attractions are weather dependant too. There are zip lines,tree top rope walks,off road go karting,steel ‘luge’ runs etc.