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A lot happened, not on the slopes, but in front of parking lots and access roads. Many skiers no longer have tickets online. There were occasional security problems.
Good weekend weather in the ski areas ensured full and partially overloaded parking spaces and, unsurprisingly, there were also more on the slopes than at the foggy start to the season on December 24. Elevator operators emphasize that their Corona security measures are coming into effect, opinions are divided on social media channels.
In Lower Austria, where tickets are allocated, the highest level was reached at Semmering, Mönichkirchen-Mariensee, the Annaberger, Hochkar and Ötscher ski lifts. Due to a storm warning, the Hochkar ski area will be closed on Monday.
The fever in Upper Austria was also very great. The Hinterstoder, Wurzeralm and Kasberg ski areas were full by lunchtime, in Hinterstoder the parking spaces were full by 9.30am, reported Helmut Holzinger, director of Hinterstoder-Wurzeralm mountain railways.
“Good traffic”, but a relaxed situation, said the spokesman for the Salzburg cable cars and managing director of Schmittenhöhenbahn, Erich Egger. The “good volume” was related to the potential of daytime guests “who drive half an hour or an hour by car,” but “nothing compared to the previous year,” he emphasized. The further away from the metropolitan areas, the less happens in the ski area, the closer, the more. But that cannot be compared “to relatively small ski areas near big cities.” “If there is too much going on in Flachau, drive another 20 to 30 minutes into the Gastein valley,” he explained the situation in the state.
At the Schmittenhöhe in Zell am See, for example, there were around 3,000 guests on Sunday; On a typical day in another year, 15,000 to 16,000 winter sports enthusiasts would be there, Egger estimated.
The Carinthian ski areas were reasonably satisfied after four days of opening. “We are well cared for. December 24 was a good start, despite the bad weather, and yesterday and today people took advantage of the good weather, ”said the president of the ropeway division, Manuel Kapeller-Hopfgartner. The guests would be Carinthians or vacationers in second homes. The Ankogel-Mallnitz high-altitude ski areas and the Mölltaler glacier were closed. There was haste and indiscipline from the hikers on Sunday at the entrance of the Bodental.
3,000 instead of 15,000 guests
The Vorarlberg cable cars said they were satisfied with the first three days of operation this winter this Sunday. The guests adhered to the regulations, said Andreas Gapp, president of the Vorarlberg cable cars. Only in Damüls (Bregenz forest) was there a large concentration of people in one day, which soon dissolved.
But from time to time there were large gatherings of people and the images immediately circulated on the Internet. The German newspaper “Bild” reported: “Bright sun, bright snow, and sometimes just a centimeter away! Austria has been in the third lock since Saturday. But almost nothing can be seen on the open ski slopes. In some places, those responsible have already pulled the emergency brake, blocking access due to overcrowding, ”he wrote on Sunday. The mass newspaper referred mainly to the rush in the ski areas of Lower Austria. Due to the large influx of sledding meadows in Semmering, sledging meadows have been closed and access restrictions tightened. This caused delays in traffic. Many guests parked their cars on the side of the road because the parking lots were already packed. The “Bild” also referred to photographs of Zauchensee in Salzburg, which showed crowds in front of cable cars.
In most ski areas, only the strict barriers to entry caused problems, especially for those who were late. On the way to Hinterstoder in Upper Austria, the police turned away the drivers at the entrance to the valley on Sunday morning. Still, the tracks and elevators were only used a fraction. Many winter sports fans have had to return home to nothing. In some smaller ski areas, online tickets for the next few days are already full. (APA)
(“Die Presse”, print edition, December 28, 2020)
