Industry News
Summer skiing on the Hintertux Glacier in Austria had to be halted due to deteriorating conditions on the glacier. Videos shared by ski racers training on the glacier showed slush puddles instead of snow on the race course and ski lift tracks. The webcam paints a sorry sight from the Gefrorene Wand at 3,250 meters (10,663 feet) of altitude.
Trysil Race Academy coach Stephen Edwards said, “Hintertux is planning to open again on September 2, provided temperatures drop.” Trysil Race Academy had been training at Hintertux until mid-August. Edwards explained that the snowmaking crew at Hintertux had stored snow under layers of felt, which can be spread out again when temperatures on the glacier drop again. Edwards reiterated, “It’s quite impressive how much they have stockpiled.” This practice is known as snow farming and is increasingly being used across European resorts to conserve snow over the warmer months to be reused when temperatures drop. It is an economical as well as sustainable system that ensures safe snow conditions on the glacier.
Hintertux is located in the Zillertal, Tyrol, in Austria, and has 12 miles (20km) of slopes open for summer skiing, compared to 37 miles (60km) in winter.Currently, only four miles (6km) are still open. Aside from the groomed slopes, the area also features a large terrain park for freestyle practice. The resort extends from 4,921 ft (1,500m) to 10,662 ft (3,250m) in altitude and offers many activities aside from skiing or boarding, such as hiking, sledding, or exploring the glacial lake situated in a magnificent ice cave.
Hintertux is one of Europe’s summer ski areas that winter sports athletes use for on-snow training during the summer months. Three Norwegian summer-only ski resorts had to stop operations last week due to a heatwave at the Arctic Circle. Currently, Zermatt and Saas-Fee in Switzerland as well as Passo dello Stelvio in Italy are still open for summer skiing. The latter three ski areas are on the south side of the European Alps and have held up better over the summer months than ski areas in the northern Alps and Scandinavia.
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