Carinthia's Lift Co’s Prepping For Winter Of 2024/25 With Optimism
This year's ski season has been running on the Mölltal Glacier since October 12, 2024. This is probably one of the reasons why the new Carinthian ski pass is experiencing a pre-sales boom, which indicates that Carinthians' longing for fun on the slopes and unforgettable mountain moments is particularly great this year. In order to offer skiers the best conditions - like every year - Carinthia's ski areas have worked hard over the last few months. A state-of-the-art 6-seater chairlift on the Nassfeld as well as countless investments in comfort, slope quality and a top offer across all ski areas make Carinthia the place to be in winter 2024/25. And recent studies once again show how central the cable car industry is to Carinthia as a tourism and business location.
"The 3.3 million skiers who enjoy skiing on our slopes during the winter generate considerable added value. Carinthia as a business location benefits from this with a multiplication factor of 1 to 7. This means that for every €100 million in added value from skiing operations at the mountain railways, we generate over €700 million in total added value in the country," says Manuel Kapeller-Hopfgartner, chairman of the cable car specialist group of the Carinthian Chamber of Commerce, quoting from the value creation study by market researcher Manova, which is produced every three years and is currently based on facts from the winter of 2022/23.
"The tourism and business location of Carinthia as a whole benefits enormously from the attractiveness of our ski offer, which is aimed at holidaymakers and locals. It is therefore very important that we ski areas invest year after year in our infrastructure and our offers in order to increase quality and to continually highlight Carinthia's alpine expertise. After all, almost 80% of winter tourism in Carinthia is based on the operation of the Carinthian cable cars," emphasises Kapeller-Hopfgartner.
Advance sales boom for the Carinthian ski pass
"The fact that Carinthians are more interested in skiing than ever before is shown by the enormous demand for this year's new Carinthian ski pass. Frequent skiers benefit from the outstanding price attractiveness of the season ski pass, as they ski for free from the 12th day of skiing onwards," says the trade group chairman.
There are also numerous well-received, smart offers for Carinthians who rarely go to the slopes: points and hourly tickets, half-day tickets and special time tickets (usable hourly over one or two seasons) as well as season tickets for individual ski areas. "Skiers specifically choose the most attractive ticket option for them from the wide range of tickets offered by the mountain railways," explains Manuel Kapeller-Hopfgartner.
The news of winter 2024/25
In addition to the new Carinthian ski pass, numerous features have been added that noticeably improve comfort and quality for every single skier. At Nassfeld, for example, the Trögl 4-seater chairlift has been replaced by a state-of-the-art 6-seater chairlift. The journey up the mountain is much more comfortable, faster and safer. In the mountain station, in addition to the cable car employees, an AI-based system monitors the exit area.
Almost all cable car companies have invested in slope maintenance: in even more efficient, high-performance snowmaking systems, such as Bad Kleinkirchheim and the Gerlitzen Alpe, each with very high investment volumes. Investments have also been made in systems for measuring snow depth and new piste machines. In many ski areas, slopes have been optimized and additional slopes have been created. For example, on the Gerlitzen Alpe, where a separate training slope for young skiers and a lovely descent on the south side of the mountain have been created. Existing ski practice areas (such as on the Falkert/Heidi Alm) have been improved and a new practice area (Katschberg) has been created. And a particularly comfortable premium ski depot has been created on the Nassfeld. In many cases, measures have been taken to optimize energy and increase energy efficiency, and new photovoltaic systems have been installed. Investments in the Carinthian ski areas in recent months total around €40 million.
Dynamic pricing in Heiligenblut
Heiligenblut is the first ski area in Carinthia to use dynamic pricing. "Those who buy their ski ticket early online benefit from attractive prices. The system rewards early bookers. The day ticket is available from €42.50 and the 6-day ski pass from €203.50. Depending on the time of purchase, demand and other factors, the price varies dynamically between the cheapest possible offers and the daily updated prices," explains Christian Prinz, Managing Director of the Grossglockner Bergbahnen. "How individual cable car companies deal with digital dynamic pricing is their business decision. We as the cable car specialist group of the Carinthian Chamber of Commerce make NO recommendations for or against dynamic pricing," emphasizes specialist group chairman Kapeller-Hopfgartner.
Digital & more attractive than ever for families including grandparents
"We have received a lot of positive feedback for the new, digital purchase option for all of our ski pass variants, which has been available since September 9, 2024. Carinthian ski pass buyers really appreciate the convenience of being able to conveniently buy the season ski pass online. This means that 8,000 Carinthian ski passes have already been purchased, more than ever before at this time," says Hansjörg Pflauder, happily summing up the situation. Pflauder, who is a board member of the Bad Kleinkirchheim mountain railways, is responsible for the management of the Carinthian ski pass together with Christian Krisper (Board Member of the Nassfeld Mountain Railways).
"The online super pre-sale with the lowest prices on offer runs until November 1, 2024. General pre-sales at the ski resorts' lift ticket offices and online run until December 8, 2024," says Pflauder. As every year, the family and partner packages are particularly popular. The grandparent packages and offers for patchwork families, which were launched for the first time this year, are also very popular. "In this way, we are meeting the great desire of buyers that grandparents who go skiing with their grandchildren when they are children should enjoy the same price advantage as parents and that patchwork families who do not live together under the same roof should also be able to benefit from the family advantages," emphasizes Skipass Managing Director Pflauder.
For Carinthia's students - free or almost free
In addition to the very attractively priced family offers of the Carinthian ski pass, the Carinthian cable car industry supports ski-loving primary and secondary school students with free tickets (adventure day in the snow) and super cheap tickets (3- or 5-day tickets for school ski courses). "We pay a lot of attention to the next generation of skiers. The joint sponsorship of Carinthian schoolchildren, which is jointly financed by all ski areas, has been around for years. And every ski area supports ski-loving young people as part of its cooperation with regional ski clubs," says Kapeller-Hopfgartner, mentioning an extremely popular initiative by the local cable car industry.
Specifically, under the motto "Adventure day in the snow for Carinthian elementary schools", all Carinthian elementary school students and their accompanying teachers will receive a free one-day ski ticket from January 13 to 17, 2025. The registration deadline is December 12, 2024.
Furthermore, kids who love skiing as well as young ski beginners are offered the opportunity to experience cool days of skiing at an extremely reasonable price: primary school students receive a ski pass for a 3-day school ski course for only €7 per day. Secondary school students (secondary levels I and II: NMS, PTS, ASO, AHS, BMHS, BS) receive a ski pass as part of winter sports weeks (overnight stay in accommodation in Carinthia) for a 5-day ski course for only €11 per day.
Smaller ski areas and their central role
The numerous smaller ski areas in Carinthia play an extremely important role in getting kids and adults alike excited about skiing and offering them nearby, affordable and comfortable skiing opportunities. "We are local ski suppliers, learning and practice centers as well as facilitators of daily, healthy skiing fun with short distances. And we satisfy our guests' longing for activity in the fresh air, for sporting exercise in the open air and for the enjoyable 'up there' in the sun," says Alexandra Bresztowanszky, Managing Director of the Hochrindl cable cars, summarizing the role of the ski areas, which offer 2 to around 20 kilometers of slopes.
"The Hochrindl is characterized by its manageable, cozy, personal nature combined with the same high quality of the slopes as you would expect from large, modern ski areas," explains Bresztowanszky. "That's why we are very popular with families with children, beginners of all ages, returning skiers and seniors," she says proudly. "It's no coincidence that we are one of the leading ski training centers in Carinthia. The Hochrindl is even number 1 nationwide for primary school students," reveals Bresztowanszky.
Another strength of the smaller ski areas is their attractive pricing. At €28 for an adult day ticket (€22 for children), skiing fun in the Skieldorado Hrast in Feistritz an der Gail/Hohenthurn is particularly affordable. Prices are similarly low in Bodental, with a day ticket of €30 per adult (€25 for children). The day ticket for the Bodental baby lift costs just €5. Heidi Alm-Falkert (€37 or €22) and Weinebene (€37.50 or €22) are similarly attractively priced.
Skieldorado Hrast - now independent
The small municipal ski area Hrast in Feistritz an der Gail and Hohenthurn has made a name for itself as a regional ski center. From this winter season, the Hrast ski paradise (2 km of slopes, 1 drag lift, skiing from Christmas to the beginning of March 2025) will operate independently, supported by the two communities. Night skiing is offered every Friday and on Tuesdays during the holidays. The prices are moderate: a day ticket costs €28 for adults, €22 for children and young people up to 18 years of age. A special feature is that children who have their main residence in the two communities of Feistritz an der Gail and Hohenthurn can ski for free, which is made possible by the two communities. Discussions are being held with other communities in the region to enable children living there to enjoy skiing with ease.
Goldeck: With news & innovations into the ski winter
"The reactivation of our north run, called 'S1', which starts at the Goldeck summit, is one of many accents with which we are making the Goldeck even more attractive. S1 stands for a superlative piste. It is black, steep, fast and leads 1,600 meters downhill. This makes it the longest continuously black piste in the Alps," reveals Erik Zechmann, Managing Director of Goldeck Bergbahnen since January 2024. The recently unused mountain station of the former cable car is being completely redesigned. "We are creating the 'Goldalm' restaurant there at an altitude of over 2,000 meters. It will have a large panoramic sun terrace. In terms of culinary delights, it offers mountain dining, developed and accompanied by the cosmopolitan, award-winning chef Wini Brugger, who has close ties to Carinthia," explains Zechmann. Part of the Goldalm will be a "self-catering room" for ski tourers, whom Zechmann wants to appeal to more, and particularly inviting toilet facilities. "I have never understood why there are usually just as many women's and men's toilet cubicles, which often leads to waiting times for women. That's why there are seven cubicles for women and three for men in the Goldalm," explains the Goldeck boss. He also wants to highlight other strengths of his mountain: the ultimate panoramic view from the Grossglockner to the Triglav. The modernity of the cable cars and lifts. But also the fact that adjacent to the Goldeckbahn mountain station there is one of the highest, exclusive children's areas in Carinthia, which is in the sun all day long and right next to it is the Seehütte, a gastronomic hotspot for young and old.
