Climate change: No winter skiing on the Dachstein glacier

The thaw has particularly affected the supports of the T-bar lifts. They will have to be moved, Plame said, “It’s a huge effort and we don’t have a guarantee that it won’t be able to do it again next year.” The boulders come in some places on the slopes and even the lift road now goes over the boulders. “We have to put that away, but that’s not a problem for us, for nature’s sake,” Plame explained.

Skiing is prohibited in the winter

That’s why the decision was made to abandon winter glacier skiing, at least this year. “We will assess the situation in the spring, but there will likely not be a new ice age,” the MD said realistically. Lifting struts are likely to be dismantled as a result. A positive side effect: the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe cross-country ski trails is increasing, because they must continue to exist. Crossings for snowboarding tours will also continue. The glacier cable car, attractions such as the “Stairway Leading to Nothing” and the restaurant are also open.

Ambitious plans were made for the mountain station: the conversion should make it energy self-sufficient. However, the details have not yet been fixed. Right now, not much would change for the Ice Palace. It is still running, but a locking system has been set up in the entrance area. In addition, only 40 people are allowed to enter at the same time. As a result, there should not be any problems with ice in the caves. Incidentally, the energy consumption for cooling locks is “not worth mentioning” and in any case is only necessary in the summer, according to Plame.

New winter hiking trails

However, it is still unclear what will happen to the Ice Palace in the long run. In any case, they want to develop a new concept for Dachstein – “Dachstein Winter 2023+” – which should provide more winter hiking trails. So far there have only been a few skiers on the mountain in the winter, as they had enough snow on nearby Planai anyway. The main season at Dachstein Glacier is fall, when snow cannons cannot be fired at lower altitudes. In Styria, Dachstein was the only ski destination where skiing was already introduced in September and October. Above all, many professional athletes have used inclines for their training runs.