Snow was missing for a long time

How the season is going in the small ski resorts

The Kinderland on the Hansberg has been open since December 13, which makes chairman Herbert Hofbauer happy.

(Bild: Hofbauer)

The big ski resorts in Upper Austria have been carving for a long time. But how are the smaller lift operators in the state faring? Not a single ski pass was sold on the Viehberg in 2024. And this year's season has also been very mixed so far.

"Of course we expected more, but it was still good considering the circumstances," says Andreas Pilsl, lift operator in Kirchschlag near Linz, looking back on the start of the season. After being open at the beginning on December 14 and 15, the lift had to close immediately after the weekend until December 26 due to the weather.

Escape light skiing possible
"The house lift is our most important lift. We shoveled the lift road by hand and we have been open since this Monday," says Pilsl. There was simply not enough natural snow and "we are dependent on that". But now the slopes are easy to ski on. The popular floodlit skiing has also been possible since yesterday.

Too warm for snowmaking
And there was also positive news from the Hansberg ski resort, 30 kilometers north of Linz, on Friday. "Our ski lift is specially designed for beginners. We have had the Kinderland open continuously since December 13 and have already welcomed more than a thousand children. Our T-bar lift has also been open for the first time this year since Friday lunchtime," explains chairman Herbert Hofbauer. We have "already got used to" the fact that it is no longer easy for low-lying ski lifts. "The temperatures were too high for snowmaking. We need minus three degrees, we've never had that. But now the weather has changed," says Hofbauer.

Dependent on natural snow
The Viehberg lifts in Sandl are completely reliant on natural snow. "We are running on economy mode. We have a lot of visitors, but most of them are tobogganers or bobsleigh riders who use the ski slope," says chairman Werner Siegl. This is because it is not possible to operate the lift. "Five to ten centimetres of snow don't allow for grooming. We didn't sell a single ski pass in the 2024 calendar year. We have submitted a project for snowmaking to the state, but have not yet received an answer."