Start of the season: winter sports enthusiasts storm Obertauern – salzburg.ORF.at
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The first ski weekend of the season took place in Obertauern (Pongau/Lungau). In addition to the Kitzsteinhorn and the Resterhöhe (both Pinzgau), the third ski area has now started operations. The rush was great, in the first few days there was a traffic jam on arrival.
The parking lots in Obertauern were filled to the last spot on Sunday, and even before the first gondola opened up, the early morning traffic jam stretched all the way down to Radstadt. With minus six degrees, half a meter of natural snow and additional artificial snow, many felt like skiing.
The ski area was able to go into operation with all 26 lifts at the start of the season. The mountain railways employ around 200 people – there are currently no personnel problems, there are enough employees to operate all cable cars.
Mountain railways: Fixed-price electricity contracts that are still running
In a normal season, the ski area sells around one million ski passes. Here, too, prices have increased by six percent, but electricity costs and price increases at the beginning of the season are not a cause for concern: “We still have contracts that also cover this winter. But inflation will certainly hit hard in the coming winters,” says Klaus Steinlechner, Managing Director of the Obertauern lift community.
Cabins: heating costs doubled
The catering establishments on the mountain also reported good results in the first few days. Many of them still heat with oil – the hut keepers describe that the fixed costs have doubled. The price increases have to be passed on to customers, says hut host Franz Fuiko: “Not in all categories, but in individual ones. As a company, you cannot swallow all of these price increases yourself.”
Hotels: Establishments are already very well booked
The start of the season in the ski area also marks the start of the winter season for the hotel industry – the companies in the state will be fully booked in the coming weeks or at least 80 percent occupied. Especially on the Christmas holidays and on New Year’s Eve, many hotels no longer have any free rooms: “The booking behavior is now very spontaneous, we can see it from today – it’s very nice and everyone rushes up. The next few weekends are already very well booked, but I don’t dare to make any long-term forecasts,” says Walter Veit, President of the Austrian Hoteliers’ Association (ÖHV).