Photo: fotokerschi.at | Kerschbaummayr
Anyone who walks along Linzer Landstrasse on Saturday morning will see a rather unusual protest march: people who have their skis and snowboards with them in summer temperatures and are walking in the direction of Landhaus. The reason is the presentation of almost 30,000 signatures on a petition intended to save the Kasberg ski area in Grünau im Almtal.
As reported, the lift operation on the Kasberg is about to end. Despite millions in funding from the state, Almtal-Bergbahnen GmbH has made losses in the past two years. A deficit compensation should only be made if the eight-person gondola can be used for summer tourism in the future in order to be able to generate additional income. However, the proposals continue to fail due to the veto of five of the 14 large landowners.
“Deeply rooted in the region”
The fact that no solution has been found in the past months and weeks is “incomprehensible” for the co-initiator of the petition, Bernhard Altmanninger. At the end of March, the Scharnsteiner, who has been working on a voluntary basis on the Kasberg for more than 30 years, started the petition together with ski clubs from the region. “The thousands of signatures show that the closure is primarily a social aspect,” says Altmanninger. Generations would have learned to ski on the Kasberg.
The aim of the march was to show “how deeply the Kasberg is rooted in our region”. The participants would arrive by bus and train. And according to Altmanninger, something unusual was also considered: “We even take a cabin from the eight-seater gondola with us on a flatbed truck.” In front of the Linzer Landhaus, the collected signatures are finally handed over to the President of the State Parliament, Max Hiegelsberger (ÖVP).
Source: Nachrichten
