Schladming-Dachstein: A Great Start To The Winter Season

A dream start to the new season for winter sports enthusiasts: In the Austrian holiday region of Schladming-Dachstein, the first ski slopes are already open, with more to follow in the coming days.

• Several ski slopes on the Reiteralm and the Planai are already open
• More mountain railways will go into operation in the next few days
• Cross-country ski trails are already available

On the Schladminger Planai there are already a few runs available, on the Reiteralm the Schober run. Cross-country skiers can also be happy, they can follow the trail in Ramsau am Dachstein, there are already several trails prepared.

All information is available online at www.schladming-dachstein.at/winterstart .

The Riesneralm will also start winter on December 2nd, Hauser Kaibling and the Planneralm will probably start a day later, and the Hochwurzen on December 7th. The official start of the 4-mountain ski area with an extensive supporting program is planned for December 8th to 11th. With the start of the 2022/23 winter season, two new cable cars will also start operating in the Schladming-Dachstein holiday region on December 8th: a state-of-the-art 10-seater gondola lift on the Galsterberg near Pruggern and a combined lift with chairs and gondolas on the Rittisberg in Ramsau am Dachstein.

Galsterberg: Modern 10-person gondola with the highest level of comfort

After more than thirty years, the previous group gondola on the Galsterberg was replaced by a modern 10-seater gondola. "The joy is huge, a milestone for the Galsterberg - with this we are securing the ski mountain for the coming decades," explains Galsterberg Managing Director Peter Weichbold. In addition to the highest level of comfort and significantly higher transport performance, the architecture of the valley and mountain stations stands out, which scores with regional design in "shingle design".

Rittisberg: New combination lift with chairs and gondolas

On the Rittisberg in Ramsau am Dachstein, a major investment was made just in time for the 50th anniversary of the mountain railway: around eight million euros flowed into the new transport facility consisting of gondolas and chairs. The new cable car not only increases the quality of transport on Styria’s largest adventure mountain, but also creates an expanded winter offer, as Rittisbahn operator Manfred Engelhardt emphasizes: “The combination of chairs and gondolas adapts flexibly to the needs of our guests. In this way, we can no longer only enable skiing on the Rittisberg, but also many other winter sports.”

One of the five largest tourist destinations in Austria

With more than 3.7 million overnight stays per year, Schladming-Dachstein is one of the five largest tourist destinations in Austria. In winter, the Styrian holiday region offers perfect conditions with sufficient snow: As part of Ski amadé, the region not only has 230 kilometers of pistes and 88 state-of-the-art lifts ready for its guests, but also 100 rustic ski huts for refreshments.

The Schladming-Dachstein holiday region has up to 430 km of cross-country ski trails in store for cross-country skiers. On the sunny Ramsau am Dachstein plateau, for example, there are not only perfectly groomed cross-country ski runs, but also numerous other highlights such as a children's cross-country ski park or laser biathlon. New since the 2022/23 winter season is the 5.2-kilometer high-altitude trail called “Rittisberg 1500”.