Our slogan, “The best slopes in the heart of Carinthia,” is not just an empty promise. Behind it lie genuine passion, extensive expertise, hard work, and many long winter nights.
As soon as temperatures begin to drop in late autumn, targeted snowmaking operations start on the Gerlitzen Alpe. A perfectly coordinated system of pumping stations, storage ponds, and more than 300 snowmaking units is used - including 124 fan guns and 220 snow lances. Technical snowmaking lays the foundation for a successful ski season; without it, reliable ski operations would hardly be possible today. In addition, snow reserves and GPS-supported measuring systems help distribute the available snow optimally across the entire ski area with the help of snow groomers throughout the season.
This creates consistent, high-quality slopes while ensuring the efficient and resource-conscious use of water and energy. In this way, we are able to guarantee our guests a winter experience with reliable snow conditions from December through April.
After the winter season and the spring snowmelt, all of the water previously used is completely returned to the natural water cycle, making it available again in the form of groundwater, streams, and rivers. This preserves the resource and sustainably reintegrates it into the ecological system without causing any permanent loss.
While many of our guests are already fast asleep, the work is just beginning for our piste groomer drivers. With great skill and the highest standards for themselves, they prepare the slopes of the Gerlitzen Alpe night after night, so that every morning our guests can once again enjoy a perfectly groomed “carpet” on which they can make their turns until the evening.
Our modern fleet of piste groomers consists of a total of nine vehicles, including several high-performance winch machines as well as classic snow groomers used for daily operations on our ski slopes. The winch machines are primarily deployed on particularly steep sections of terrain. There, they operate using a cable system and ensure safe and precise grooming even in demanding conditions. Thanks to these specialised machines, even steep slopes can be evenly prepared and made perfectly suitable for ski operations.
All vehicles in our fleet are equipped with state-of-the-art technology. A key system is SNOWsat, which enables precise measurement of snow depth on every square centimetre of the slope. These accurate data allow our drivers to make optimal use of the available snow: snow can be selectively moved from areas with sufficient coverage to places where additional snow is still needed for slope preparation.
Thanks to this intelligent technology and the experience of our team, we are able not only to prepare the slopes at the highest quality, but also to work in a sustainable and resource-efficient way.
