Planai Will Celebrate Its 50th Anniversary In 2022

The history of the Planai-Hochwurzen-Bahnen has been enriched by a nice chapter. The year 2022 is all about the 50th anniversary of the company. On December 21, 1972, the first 4-seater gondola was opened on the Planai and the starting signal for Schladming's upswing was given. The Planai-Hochwurzen-Bahnen are now a year-round leisure company and a central economic and tourism engine in the Schladming-Dachstein region and beyond. 

In the beginning there was the "Trücherl", a material cableway to the Fastenberg, as the Schladminger Planai was then called - shortly after the end of the Second World War. This was mainly used to transport milk from the farms down into the valley, but it was soon recognized how practical the cable car was for transporting people. More and more locals, guests and winter sports enthusiasts let themselves be taken up the mountain - illegally, of course. 

The potential of winter tourism was recognized and soon the first toll road was uphill in the truest sense of the word - T-bar lifts and chairlifts followed. However, it would be more than 20 years before Schladming got the first cable car approved for passenger transport. Visionaries, such as the Planai long-term managing director Albert Baier and the tourism expert Rudolf Stocker Sr., persistently pursued their ideas and so the actual founding of the "Planai-Bahn GmbH" took place in 1970. 

With the commissioning of the first Planai cable car on December 21, 1972, a long-awaited dream finally came true. At the time, no one could have guessed that this 4-seater gondola was the starting signal for the upswing in Schladming.

Combining strengths and growing together

In 1979, today's Planai-Hochwurzen-Bahnen GmbH was created through the merger with the "Hochwurzen-Bahn". This merger was also noticeable for skiers from 1981 with the construction of the double chair lifts Planai West I and II as well as Rohrmoos I and II. In 1985, the previous 4-seater gondola to the Planai was replaced by a new 6-seater gondola. A groundbreaking course was set for the following decades in 1998. The swing connection from the Hauser-Kaibling via the Planai and Hochwurzen to the Reiteralm was created and thus offered connected skiing fun over four mountains. In 2001, Ski amadé was founded, the largest Austrian tariff association. This cooperation of cable car companies from 5 regions now includes 270 lifts and 760 kilometers of slopes.  

Major investments in a good future

Farsightedness and courage were the constant companions in the development of the Planai-Hochwurzen-Bahnen right from the start, and so in the years that followed the construction of several new chairlifts and gondolas as well as the construction of the new Planet Planai valley station could be realized. In 2019, the largest investment in the company's history - the construction of the new Planai 10-seater main cable car - was made. In the Corona year, too, investments were made in the construction of the new 8-seater Lärchkogelbahn and in attractive public projects such as the expansion of Hopsiland, the bike park on the Planai and on the Wilder Berg in Mautern. 

Major sporting events ensure that Schladming is known all over the world

With the men's World Cup downhill in December 1973, the Planai moved into the international limelight for the first time. 30,000 spectators were there live when Franz Klammer celebrated the first World Cup victory of his career. In 1975 the first World Cup slalom followed on the Planai, which Hansi Hinterseer won. Another sporting highlight followed with the hosting of the Alpine Ski World Championships in 1982. After the stars of the US. Four times per tour, Schladming was included in the season calendar of the Ski World Cup again in 1997. The first night slalom on the Planai on January 30, 1997 was the beginning of a unique success story that celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2022. Year after year, up to 50,000 people cavort at the foot of the Planai to experience the night race live. 

The atmosphere at the Special Olympics World Winter Games in 2017, which was held in Schladming for the second time after 1993, was particularly emotional and heart-rending.

Ski openings and events enrich the social and cultural offer 

But not only the ski elite come to Schladming. The Ski Openings and Open Airs at the foot of the Planai are almost as legendary as the ski slope itself. Many superstars such as Pink, David Guetta, SEEED, Die Toten Hosen, Herbert Grönemeyr or the "Steirerman" Andreas Gabalier have enchanted visitors with theirs Concerts in the Planai Stadium. But the winter barbecue with Johann Lafer on the Planai or the Musician Ski World Championships are now also a fixed point in the program of events. 

Planai-Bus and GEO Reisen make travel dreams come true

The path from the first regular-service bus to today's fleet of touring coaches, regular-service buses and combi-buses also points to a remarkable pioneering spirit. After the construction of the Hochwurzenstrasse and the Planaistrasse in the 1960s, up to 13,000 people were transported up the mountain by bus on peak days. 

In 1980, the Rohrmoos-Untertal municipality's bus company was incorporated into the Planai-Hochwurzen-Bahnen company, and the construction of the first cable car to the Planai changed the importance and necessity of the bus company. In addition to the ski bus service, hiking routes to the starting points in the surrounding valleys were increasingly offered, and the Planai bus company also played an increasingly important role as a partner for group travel and as a provider of excursions. The Planai bus fleet now travels up to 750,000 kilometers a year throughout Europe. In addition, in 2019 the Planai-Hochwurzen-Bahnen took a 50 percent stake in the then newly opened travel agency GEO Reisen in Schladming and have been fulfilling their customers’ travel requests worldwide ever since.

Planai-Hochwurzen railways as a regional economic engine

In the meantime, the Planai-Hochwurzen-Bahnen have developed into a year-round leisure company through the development of new business areas and corporate divisions. With an added value of around 304 million euros per year, they are considered the central economic and tourism engine of the Schladming-Dachstein region and beyond. 

Factsheet Planai-Hochwurzen-Bahnen:

• The largest mountain railway and leisure company in Styria 
• The Planai Group is one of the top 5 in the cable car industry in Austria
• 420 employees, including 270 year-round employees 
• With 28% women, the Planai is the front runner among the mountain lift employers in the Alps
• 31 cable cars and lifts are in operation 
• Since the 2013 World Ski Championships, the Planai Group has been one of the fastest growing cable car companies in Austria.
• Company objects: Planai, Hochwurzen, Galsterberg, Dachstein, Planai Bus & Reisen, Planai Gastronomy, Der Wilde Berg Mautern
• Management: Dir. Georg Bliem