Bad Kleinkirchheim

Bad Kleinkirchheim, Austria

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Bad Kleinkirchheim

This old spa town, nicknamed BKK, was reborn as a ski resort when one of its sons, Franz Klammer, became the greatest ever name in downhill racing. Linked to St Oswald and best suited to intermediates who will enjoy the wide red runs which predominate.

Summary

The Austrian ski resort of Bad Kleinkirchheim is in the Austrian Alps at an altitude of 1,070m3,510ft, with 100km62 miles of marked runs.

Bad Kleinkirchheim has direct access to 100km62 miles of downhill skiing, with 32 marked pistes, served by a total of 27 ski lifts.

With ski lifts as high as 2,310m7,579ft, snow cover is generally reliable.

Bad Kleinkirchheim Overview

Bad Kleinkirchheim, the famous home to one of ski racing's greatest ever names, Franz Klammer, is located in a sunny little valley in the midst of the Carinthian Nockberge mountains of southern Austria. The area has attracted visitors from times long past and well before recreational skiing was thought of, thanks largely to its thermal springs. There is the Römerbad with its fascinating water landscape and an open-air pool, steaming on cold winter days, which allows you to watch the skiers at the Kaiserburg downhill ski-run. Or, if you prefer a more quiet thermal experience, there is the newly renovated St. Kathrein spa, where many visitors relax in the radon-holding thermal water.

Generally abbreviated to 'BKK', its a very attractive resort with some grand up-market buildings interspersed by numerous shops and restaurants. The atmosphere is generally quite cosmopolitan and with three five-star hotels and plenty of wealthy clients, there is always an international air about the place.

Bad Kleinkirchheim is also a major centre for international mountain sports competition, including the Alpine World-Cup, the Snowboard World Series and even the European Mountain bike Snow Downhill Cup.

 Notable Ski Runs

The most difficult run is the 'Muldenabfahrt', which is 1km1 miles in length.

Skiing

Bad Kleinkirchheim has more than 100 km (63 miles) of generally wide sunny pistes, always perfectly prepared, both above and below the tree line. The resort's own skiing on the Kaiserburg and Nockalm mountains is now more-or less linked to that of its smaller neighbouring village of St Oswald by the Sonnwiesenbahn lift. The resort has also invested heavilly in a new, silent state-of-the-art snowmaking system with around 500 state-of-the-art cannons providing coverage for most of the saki terrain - a far higher coverage than at most European resorts. On the BKK side you have a choice of T bars, a quad chairs or the two stage, four seater Kaiserburgbahn gondola up to the Kaiserburg peak, the area's highest point. There are three key access points to the slopes so queues rarely build up. There are wide sunny meadows by the village for beginners and with 26 of the 32 runs across both mountain areas classified as 'intermediate' it's a paradise for cruisers.

The skiing continues over on the St Oswald side where the skiing can be accessed by another 4 seater gondola, the Nockalmbahn. There's a good area of snow sure high altitude beginner skiing served by the gondola to ensure skiing throughout the season. More than 70 ski instructors are employed to help their ski and snowboard students to improve, and carving fans will also have a very good time. There are two ski schools, situated in different parts of the village.

For expert skiers there are more demanding pistes such as the K 70 FIS run, named after the Austrian emperor Franz Klammer. This FIS run is difficult enough to ski, even for professional World-Cup ski-racers, it includes a tricky jump and a steep bottom section. Cross-country skiers will also find a variety of routes at different altitudes. You can choose between runs either 1,100 or 1,900m above sea level, including the Nockalm-Panorama-Run which offers wonderful views of the snowy mountain area whilst cross-country skiing.

There are a variety of pistes to suit all levels of skier ability, from Beginner to Expert.

Snowboarding

There is a Snowboard test centre which is open from demos daily. The Snowboardland fun park closed after the 2005-6 season.

Weekly events include snowboard shows, demos, freestyle competitions and displays. The main down side for boarders is that the vast majority of the lifts are T Bar drags, but it is possible to get from the bottom to the top of the area's Nockberge mountain by gondola and other swathes of key terrain are accessed by chairs. The terrain is ideal for freestyle cruising.

Aprés Ski

There's plenty to do after the slopes close in Bad Kleinkirchheim, many head for the spectacular swimming pools or one of the other leisure and sports facilities. However there are about 25 bars and other night spots to choose from. There are a wide range of weekly 'specials' with parties and shows alternating between the leading establishments throughout the week. As soon as the lifts close after 4pm the Beim Sepp bar and the Peso are both usually lively, the latter has a reputation for its range of international beers.

Discos open daily to 4am include Take five Dancing. A dozen other bars are open to 2am, including The victoria Pub and Club MC99 in the cellar of the Almstube and opening at 9pm. The Brechlstube has live accordion music on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays. There's also accordion music at the Groar-Keusch'n.