Winter season

Millions for the snow

It can also look like this when there is no natural snow but the snow cannons are running: A white ribbon as the descent of the Hochjochbahn in Schruns in Montafon two years ago.

(Bild: Stiplovsek Dietmar)

Over the past three years, Vorarlberg cable cars have invested 42 million euros in snowmaking systems in order to be able to start the winter season on time.

Guaranteed snow is one of the arguments that attracts holidaymakers to Vorarlberg in winter. And it is precisely this guarantee of snow that is dwindling due to the effects of climate change. As the cable car operators reported on Tuesday in Mellau, the start of the season in particular is often a nail-biter. "For the mountain railroads, this means developing strategies to compensate for this volatility and guarantee guests reliable planning and snow conditions. And this is exactly where technical snowmaking comes in. With its help, fluctuations in the availability of natural snow can be compensated for," explains Andreas Gapp, Chairman of the Vorarlberg Cable Car Association.

For the mountain railroads, this means developing strategies to compensate for this volatility and guarantee guests planning and snow reliability.

Andreas Gapp

Sustainable snowmaking and protests
This is why 42 million euros have been invested in the expansion of snowmaking systems in Vorarlberg over the past three years. For the 2024/25 winter season, which has just started, investments in this area amount to almost ten million euros, spread across Vorarlberg's 32 ski resorts and around 2,400 snow guns and slope improvements. Snowmaking primarily requires air, water and energy. "Nowhere else in the world is snowmaking more ecological than in Vorarlberg," explained ski tourism researcher Günther Aigner on Tuesday.

For example, the water used would flow completely back into the natural cycle. However, the construction of new reservoirs repeatedly attracts the attention of nature conservationists and snowmaking systems are highly controversial. In any case, the cable car operators emphasized on Tuesday the emotionality that is associated with skiing and which can continue to be guaranteed by artificial snowmaking.