The new owner of the Gaissau-Hintersee ski area says there is no future without artificial snow cannons. GH Projektentwicklung GmbH took over the ailing ski area in the summer of 2023. The goal is a year-round business. But the concessions are in danger of expiring.
The amount of investment is enormous: according to Andreas Schnaitmann, 30 to 40 million euros are needed to keep the winter and summer activities running. Schnaitmann is spokesperson for GH Projektentwicklung GmbH, the current owner of the crisis-ridden ski area.
The ski area has three chair lifts and four surface lifts. These have been standing still for two years. “Without artificial snow you don’t have to open the gates. Then we would have maybe 30 skiing days a year,” confirmed Paul Weißenbacher, the mayor of Hintersee, and continued: “Without skiing activities we would miss out on overnight stays and local taxes instead of skiers.” are nice alternatives. “But the day guest leaves too little behind.” It would therefore be important that the new operators quickly find someone who is willing to invest well. “We’ve had enough people in the past with just ideas and plans.”
Concessions expire
But time is running out! The permits for operating elevators have expired. An extension is only possible if the operation is guaranteed. “If the ski area closes, it will never come back,” says hotelier Albert Ebner. The state of Salzburg has also already committed to financing, but this is linked to an economic exploitation concept and a minimum exploitation period of three years.
Ebner would also like to see a year-round operation. The entrepreneur envisions mountain biking in the summer, skiing, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing and touring in the winter – combined with a children’s adventure land.
The new owners say they bought the elevator company so that, as in the past, a buyer with no ties to the region wouldn’t get back into the game. “The ski area is important to the communities and local life. “We no longer have Kramer, we are in danger of becoming a bedroom community,” says Schnaitmann. The public sector is positive about the project. However, municipalities would face their own challenges due to their budgets.
30 percent less snow, despite a good location
In addition to all the economic challenges, climate change does not stop at Gaissau-Hintersee. According to one study, natural snow in Salzburg’s ski areas has decreased by 30 percent at altitudes below 1,500 meters since the early 1960s. The valley stations in Gaissau-Hintersee are located at 740 and 860 meters above sea level. Although precipitation is expected to increase by 2050, snow depth and the length of the ski season will become smaller or shorter due to the increase in temperatures.
One bankruptcy followed another
Without quick concepts and concrete plans, the ski area is in danger of extinction. The first lift in Gaißau opened in 1970. Other systems followed. In 1985 the ski area was transferred to the Saalbach-Hinterglemm mountain railways. They sold it to an investor in 2011. In 2014, a Salzburg company took over most of the company and brought on board a Chinese investor, who then took over 75 percent of the ailing company.
After several winters with little snow, the company successfully paid off its debt through a restructuring process in January 2017. However, the majority owner owed both promised investments and outstanding lease payments. Therefore, bankruptcy proceedings were opened again in the autumn of 2019. The company went to a local demolition contractor. He tried to install snowmaking, but that failed in 2022 for financial and conservation reasons. The ski area went bankrupt again.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
