Image: Martin Huber
Eight meters of snow would be necessary for carefree turns on the four kilometers of pistes of the Dachstein Glacier, which is located exclusively in Upper Austria. Only three fell this winter. The rock protrudes from the lift route, the supports would have had to be laboriously laid, gaps would have had to be closed.
For the Planai-Hochwurzen-Bahnen, “skiing is simply no longer sustainable. Ecological and economical,” as managing director Georg Bliem told OÖ Nachrichten. The tow lifts will be dismantled, work started on Monday. At the chairlift, which is not on the glacier area, you still have to wait. However, their license will expire in 2025 anyway. It was already decided last autumn to suspend skiing for this season.
Most recently, there was a significant increase in the number of guests (+15.6 percent) even without skiing. “We are now concentrating on tourers, cross-country skiers, winter hiking and also on freeriders,” says Bliem. . The lifts should be gone by Easter, the spare parts will be used in other ski areas.
There were no snow-making facilities on the Schladminger Glacier, the lowest in the Eastern Alps. But climate change has also left its mark at 2,700 meters above sea level: “Nature set the tone for us,” says Bliem. In the best years, 20,000 guests came to ski on the Dachstein, now this number has halved. “It was still funny how we were able to start in September or October. Now it’s mid-November. It’s no longer paying off,” says Bliem.
He is now concentrating on the renovation of the mountain station, which is scheduled to begin on September 6th. “The high season for us is from May to November,” he says.
Source: Nachrichten
