Located 1,350m above sea level, Altenmarkt / Zauchensee is one of nine ski areas in Austria’s ‘Salzburger Sport World’, with the others being Kleinarl, Radstadt, St Johann-Alpendorf, Wagrain, Eben, Filzmoos and Flachau. The area is notable for its impressive number of ski facilities within a relatively small geographic area, several of which are interconnected with slopes and lifts.

Altenmarkt and Zauchensee are associated together, even though they are several kilometres apart. The old market name of the former suggests a charming village, which it is. The latter is a purpose-built ski resort with slope-side accommodation. The parish church in Altenmarkt dates back to 1393, while the town’s other church is known for its stylistic mixture of Gothic and late baroque.

Facilities include: restaurants, ski schools, gift shops, sport shops, banks, post offices, museums and nightclubs. Beautiful old farmhouses, green grasslands, lush Alpine meadows and romantic mountain lakes are typical of this area in the province of Salzburg.

Altenmarkt / Zauchensee ski resort has 800kms of prepared slopes and more than 260 lifts, as well as an area designated for freestyle skiing. The two villages were the sites of the 2002 World Cup Alpine events for men and women. Cross-country fans have 250kms of tracks, and other winter sports include everything from ice-skating to rodeling in the moonlight (on sleds you steer with your feet).

Altenmarkt is only 71kms from the city of Salzburg and is one of the regular stops in a popular program that includes staying in the historic city and travelling by bus an hour or so each day to a different resort in Salzburgerland. However, if skiers stay in Altenmarkt, they can get caught up in the ambience of a rustic village, pay less, and they have lots of skiing right at hand.

The ski and snowboard season runs from December to May, with the best months being February and March. Before Christmas and mid-January are the best times to pick up bargain rates. Altenmarkt / Zauchensee is located near to both Salzburg and Munich airports and can easily be reached via the A10 motorway.