Start of the season: ski areas look forward – salzburg.ORF.at
tourism
The ski season is slowly starting in Salzburg: In Obertauern (Pongau/Lungau) and on the Resterhöhe near Mittersill (Pinzgau), regular lift operations started on Friday. The other ski areas are also to be expected given the snow conditions.
In the last few weeks, regular public skiing in the province of Salzburg was only possible on the Kitzsteinhorn glacier near Kaprun (Pinzgau), now the other ski areas are gradually opening up: on Friday the first lifts will open in Obertauern, including on the Resterhöhe Mittersill started the public service. The first snow falls on the mountains just in time for the start of the season – and not too little.
A large part of the ski areas in the federal state will then open next weekend on December 2nd or 3rd, and from December 8th skiing will be open almost everywhere.
Basic snowmaking has to wait a little longer
In Saalbach-Hinterglemm (Pinzgau), the mountain railways are likely to start the season: advance sales are similar to the years before the coronavirus pandemic. The fresh snow also plays into the hands of the lift operators, says Isabella Dschulnigg-Geissler, Managing Director of the Saalbacher Bergbahnen: “The start of the season would be planned with the opening of the Schönleitenbahn in connection with Leogang on December 2nd. As it stands now, it could work that we unlock on December 2nd. The rest of the ski circuit then on December 8th.”
You can’t complain about the booking situation at the ski schools either, says Christian Steiner, ski school operator in Obertauern: “Of course, the rush is not very big in the next few weeks, but the main holiday periods are already well booked.”
Remaining height has been in operation for some time
For more than two weeks, members of international ski teams have been skiing and skiing on the Resterhöhe – where old snow from last winter was preserved over the summer and rolled out at the beginning of November. There is now a lot of natural snow here too. These photos are from November 12th:
“Currently very good natural snow situation”
The basic snowmaking with artificial snow will only start “when the nights are nice and cold and not too humid,” says Dschulnigg-Geisler from Saalbach-Hinterglemm. “Fortunately, the snow has already come down from above in the last two days.”
The situation is similar at the Bergbahnen Mühlbach am Hochkönig (Pongau): The start of the season there is planned for December 8th. But you can’t complain about the current snow conditions, says Managing Director Siegfrid Plöbst: “At the moment we have a very good natural snow situation – and we hope that the weather conditions will stay that way and that the snow will be preserved. The snowmaking system is actually not yet in operation. We’re still waiting for cooler temperatures.”