Carinthian Lift Co's Anticipate Positive Winter

Despite the challenges, the Carinthian cable car companies are looking to the winter season with confidence. The guests' longing for snow, the good demand in advance sales and investments in the millions make us look forward to a successful ski winter.

The 2022/23 winter season has already begun on the Mölltal Glacier. All other Carinthian ski areas are positioning their facilities in view of the forecast sub-zero temperatures and are looking forward to creating the best conditions for a successful ski winter in Carinthia: "From the guest's point of view, the coming winter 2022/23 promises a large piece of normality and many wonderful moments on the Carinthian slopes. Of course, we see ourselves confronted with additional challenges due to the economic and energy-related changes of the last few months. But thanks to great efforts in the past in terms of energy efficiency and our desire to continue to be part of the solution, the coming season offers our guests the opportunity to

1,200 secure jobs

Despite the difficult seasons in recent years caused by the pandemic and the current challenges posed by inflation and energy costs, the Carinthian cable car companies have continued to develop and improve their products and services. They not only offer more than 1,200 secure jobs in winter, but are also the basis for around 7,000 other jobs in the hotels, restaurants and shops in their catchment area. A total of over 15 million euros will be raised for the coming winter season, mainly in the areas of comfort, sustainability and efficiency. “Every operator has stuck to the constant improvement and development of their offers.

Take the swing of summer into winter

With an increase of 1.6 percent, the summer season was very pleasing for the Carinthian cable car companies. "We can look back on an extremely pleasant summer of 2022, in which we were able to welcome 1.1 million guests to our summer mountains. July and August were excellent, as was October. September was completely atypical, with its unusually large number of bad weather days this year," it said the positive summer balance of Kapeller-Hopfgartner. The years of consistent investment in increasing summer attractiveness are paying off. "The great demand enables us to offer guests and locals a variety of mountain experiences between Heiligenblut and Klippitztörl, between Petzen and Katschberg between the beginning of May (Weissensee from May 6th, 2022) and the beginning of November (Katschberg until November 5th, 2022),"

Building on a successful summer season, the operators see themselves as confirmed that they are on the right track in winter too.

There is a great desire to ski

The latest surveys and direct feedback from the cable car companies confirm that there is a great desire to ski! "We are registering an above-average number of hits on the information pages of our homepages, the already numerous inquiries from tourists and locals and the feedback from the companies on the booking situation - especially over Christmas and in February - make us positive that we can again catch up to the level of 2018/19 will be found,” analyzed Kapeller-Hopfgartner.

This is also the opinion of Wolfgang Loescher, Managing Director of Kärntner Skipass Vertriebs- und Marketing GmbH: “Advance sales of the TopSkiPass season ticket for 30 ski areas in Carinthia and East Tyrol are currently going very well. Thanks to numerous new customers (plus 20 percent) and a stable proportion of loyal ski pass buyers, we are even above the level of the comparable period of 2019 after the first pre-sale phase.

No wonder, because the Carinthian ski areas with their extensive offer offer the best conditions to relax in nature, to spend wonderful moments with your loved ones and to experience winter on the Carinthian mountains in all its splendour.

Cable car investments at a glance

The focus of the investments made by the Carinthian cable car companies this year is clearly on improvements and sustainable measures in the area of ​​comfort: comfort for ski guests through powerful and at the same time resource-saving snowmaking systems, machines for the energy-efficient creation of the best slope carpets in Carinthia and of course through investments in lifts. "Because in addition to the snow guarantee that we can give here in Carinthia, we want to do everything we can to make skiing on the sunny side of the Alps an unforgettable experience for our skiers," explained Manuel Kapeller-Hopfgartner.

Numerous measures were also carried out again, especially in the areas of sustainability, digitization and fun parks. The Carinthian ski landscape is also characterized by many smaller ski areas with a family-friendly infrastructure. "We are characterized above all by the manageability and our work in the promotion of young people," said Alexandra Bresztowanszky, Managing Partner at SHL Hochrindl Lifte GmbH, who is also optimistic about the winter season. She also reported on the trend towards regionality: “For us, sustainable, ecologically and economically justifiable investments are in the foreground. We also notice that the guests appreciate this and are increasingly looking for regionality and specifically drive to a smaller ski area close to where they live. For many children, this is also the start of skiing. “We consciously focus on families and schools. We want to motivate children and young people to take up skiing with special offers and discounts,” says Bresztowanszky.

"All in all, these are nothing but investments in even more quality," explained the specialist group chairman and said very clearly: "The cable cars are the number one driving force for Carinthian winter tourism and bring numerous important value-added effects for other sectors. We are aware of this situation and therefore take our task very seriously.”

Moderate pricing

The pricing for the coming or already running winter season has turned out to be a particularly difficult task this year. Massive price increases in the areas of building materials, raw materials and energy have presented the operators of the Carinthian cable cars with major challenges. The cost price for electricity alone has risen by around 300 percent compared to the previous year. All in all, this leads to a cost increase of over 20 percent. On average, however, the prices for lift tickets were only increased by six to eight percent. “We have done everything to ensure that price drivers such as building materials, electricity and other resources are not passed on to customers. Carinthia still stands for high quality at a moderate price,” added Kapeller-Hopfgartner. This is reflected in comparison with the neighboring federal states. While in Carinthia the day tickets in the larger ski areas are between 53 and 56.50 euros, far more than 60 euros are required in other destinations. As is well known, Carinthia also has a large variety of ski areas with an equally great offer. In the smaller ski areas, day tickets range from 32 to 43 euros. Almost every ski area also offers special promotions and family packages.

The Carinthian ski pass again offers excellent value for money for the use of over 800 kilometers of slopes in 30 ski areas in Carinthia and East Tyrol. This was confirmed by Wolfgang Loescher, Managing Director of the Carinthian Ski Pass: "We have only increased the season tickets by between six and eight percent in normal sales. The children's tickets have not increased at all. In addition, advance sales are still running with very attractive offers at all points of sale. However, you have to be quick – because the pre-sale runs until December 8, 2022."

key issue of energy

The Carinthian cable car industry accounts for around 1.2 percent of Carinthian electricity requirements, with snowmaking accounting for only 0.3 percent. "We are not the power guzzlers that many people think we are," says cable car spokesman Kapeller-Hopfgartner and states: "In addition, as a company that is particularly close to nature, economical use of resources has always been important to us. In this way, we have saved 20 percent of energy in the last ten years alone.” Alternative energies are also obvious for the cable car industry: “We not only see ourselves as an indispensable part of winter tourism, but also as a strong partner in alternative energy projects thanks to our existing infrastructure in the form of photovoltaics, wind and hydropower,” says Kapeller-Hopfgartner.

The specialist group chairman explains: “We have well-developed access roads, power lines, piping, but also electricity procurement and feed-in rights in the local ski areas. This excellent infrastructure can be used immediately with the lowest possible ecological footprint.” As discussed at an energy summit with State Councilor Sebastian Schuschnig last week, according to the industry expert Kapeller-Hopfgartner, the bureaucracy is throwing a spanner in the works. According to him, almost anything can be done on the predominant designation "grassland/ski slope" - except for a PV system, which requires a reallocation. He sees a disadvantage here compared to other sectors of the economy, which, for example, could very well set up PV areas on an industrial dedication with more than 50 percent self-consumption. “We are calling for equality here as soon as possible. Overall, we have a 20 percent increase in costs for energy and suppliers, but we have only increased prices by 8 percent so that skiing remains affordable for the family. In the long term, this will tear away our investment base.”

Offers for Carinthian schools

The "Adventure Week in the Snow" awakens the fun of skiing even among the youngest Carinthians. The offer of the Carinthian cable cars in the direction of schools and schoolchildren was also announced this year. So the children and young people can once again whiz down the slopes at a reasonable price:

• Adventure day in the snow for elementary schools:
• One day in the period between January 16 - 20, 2023
• Free day pass
• Registration runs until December 12, 2022
• 3-day package for elementary schools for EUR 16.50
• Winter sports week for secondary levels I and II (NMS, PTS, ASO, AHS, BMHS, BS)at least five consecutive days associated with overnight stays in external accommodation in Carinthia
• 45 euros for five days
• Free school ski day in selected ski areas on December 14, 2022