Snow Space Salzburg: Travel To The Ski Area Comfortably And Free Of Charge

For the first time, it will be possible to travel to one of the large ski areas by public transport from the entire province of Salzburg free of charge: If you buy a ski or ski tour ticket online for the Snow Space Salzburg ski area in Flachau, Wagrain and St. Johann/Alpendorf, you can in the season 2022/23 also book the arrival and departure without additional costs. This offer is made possible by a cooperation between Snow Space Salzburg Bergbahnen, the Salzburg Transport Association and the State of Salzburg. 

This was announced by the Chairman of the Board of Snow Space Salzburg, Ing. Wolfgang Hettegger, Mag. Stefan Schnöll, the Provincial Councilor responsible for the Salzburg Transport Association, and the Managing Director of the Salzburg Transport Association, Mag. Johannes Gfrerer, at a media conference in Salzburg.

Statement Provincial Councilor Mag. Stefan Schnöll said "Through this project, for the first time ski guests can travel to and from the airport on all scheduled routes of the SVV lines in the Salzburg network area, including the core zone of Salzburg, and on ÖBB long-distance trains in the Salzburg network area. It is a milestone project - we are creating a significant reduction in CO2 emissions and at the same time making the path for customers who are enthusiastic about skiing sustainable and much more relaxed".

Statement Mag. Johannes Gfrerer, Managing Director of the Salzburg Transport Association added “We help people in Salzburg to enjoy their free time and at the same time protect the climate. The success of the Salzburg climate ticket shows that this approach of the Salzburg transport association is well received. With our new cooperation with Snow Space Salzburg, we are continuing on this path and offering ski fans a sustainable journey to the ski area for the whole season,” 

Statement Ing. Wolfgang Hettegger, Snow Space Salzburg Bergbahnen agreed “Together we create an offer that has never existed before. All Salzburg residents can use public transport to travel directly to the ski area: quickly, comfortably and free of charge.” For example: the train journey from the city of Salzburg takes around 50 minutes, there is a train connection to and from St. Johann every hour or even more frequently. The ski bus, which is coordinated with the train, runs from the train station to the valley station for another ten minutes. There is also a heated ski and boot depot and four ski rental shops. So you can easily arrive without equipment. Ski touring fans can also use the free ride. You can take the train and ski bus to the Gernkogel route, where more than 1,000 meters of altitude difference await. For the first time, day visitors have an attractive alternative to arriving by car. You now have the choice

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CO2 emissions on arrival and departure largest position

The CEO of Snow Space Salzburg sees the project as a long-term alternative to traveling individually by car: "This is the beginning of a new phase. Arrival and departure weigh the heaviest in the ecological balance of Austrian winter tourism. We are showing that something can be done to reduce CO2 emissions.”

Around 70 percent of the emissions from a day's skiing come from traffic, Hettegger reminded us. This was the result of a widely acclaimed study, which the Chair of the Ecology Advisory Board of Snow Space Salzburg, Univ.-Prof. dr TUE Ulrike Pröbstl-Haider presented in 2018 in cooperation with the Austrian Federal Environment Agency.

At Snow Space Salzburg, they don't expect a rush from the first day, but rely on continuous development. "It's about a change in behavior, as we are currently experiencing with e-mobility. This will need time! Only when good alternatives are known will ski fans seriously consider it,” said Hettegger. There was already a daily free ski bus between the city of Salzburg and Flachau. Around 3,500 people used this last season. Due to the significantly better general conditions - arrival from all over the province of Salzburg, flexible use for the journey there and back - the cable car manager expects a higher number in the first year. The advertising of the free offer will also draw the attention of users of the climate ticket to this stress-free journey and encourage them to switch. With the climate ticket, the journey is free even without an online ticket. “In any case, we will have staying power when it comes to implementation,” promised Hettegger.

Traffic concept as the backbone of the sustainability strategy

Snow Space Salzburg has been implementing the ecological concept "On the way to a climate-neutral ski area" since 2019. It is based on the three pillars of ecology, technical environmental protection and guest behavior. Management is advised by a three-person expert advisory board, which develops proposals and monitors implementation. Traffic plays a major role in this. As early as 2019, a direct train connection on the Westbahn to the St. Johann express train station was offered in cooperation with ÖBB. If you book a combined train-ski lift ticket with an ÖBB Vorteilscard, you get a bonus on the ski ticket.

At 3:40 from Vienna, it is still the fastest train connection to a large Austrian ski area. With this offer, the owners of a climate ticket are also expected to be a new target group. In the first two seasons affected by Corona, a few hundred guests chose this route.

"In numbers, that's not much. But the connection is an example of the fact that there are also alternatives in long-distance transport. Because we know: there will be more every winter and at some point the tipping point will come. Then traveling by public transport is the natural alternative to private transport,” predicted Hettegger. Surveys today would show a potential of well over ten percent for public transport use. In the Snow Space Salzburg they want to address them specifically and convince them in the medium to long term. Hermann Maier has also been promoting this since 2020 with a video that can be seen at all capital train stations in Austria.
Ski bus transports 850,000 ski fans

The third component is the extensive range of ski buses in the region, which is financed by the cable car company with more than one million euros. 20 lines run between Flachau, Wagrain, St. Johann and the surrounding communities, at peak times every 10 minutes. 850,000 promotions were counted in the 2021/22 season. “Even if someone arrives by car, nobody needs a car locally. The next step is to convert this fleet to electric buses, the first of which will be put into operation in a few days.

Reduction of CO2 emissions also in the company

The CO2 balance of Snow Space Salzburg Bergbahnen AG, prepared in 2020, has shown the potential for avoiding CO2 in our own operations. The biggest emitters, the snow groomers, have to be left out until hydrogen vehicles are used. However, the corresponding prototypes are in development and should be extensively tested in Snow Space Salzburg next season at the latest. The entire fleet will be converted to electric vehicles if there is already an adequate electric variant of the respective vehicle type.

Brief overview of the overall concept and overall goal

"In the sustainability concept, Snow Space Salzburg not only focuses on traffic and thus on guest behavior, but also on ecology and technical environmental protection. The ecology of the ski area was the focus of numerous environmental measures in connection with the new construction of the "Flying Mozart" cable car. The complete biotope mapping of the ski slopes will be completed after three years in 2023. The next measures are derived from this, such as improving the biodiversity on the slopes through a new summer management. The experts on the advisory board tell us that the CO2-neutral ski day is within reach. That's where we want to go," affirmed Hettegger.