Unter skiers there are such and such. Some can be comfortably taken up the mountain by cable cars and lifts, others climb the slopes in the hope of untouched powder snow or see it as a workout at the edge of the piste and afterwards also claim how good they felt doing it. Ski touring is the original version of skiing.
Because people in Bavaria could only enjoy skiing last winter when they went on a sweaty ski tour – the cable cars were closed, it was not possible to switch to Austria because of the Corona border regime – more than 25,000 ski tourers stormed the ski area in December 2020 alone Garmisch-Partenkirchen. As many as in previous years in a whole season. In total there were said to be 70,000 at the foot of the Zugspitze last winter. And also away from the ski areas, in touring areas in which one was usually alone, there were long queues of cars last winter because the parking lots were overcrowded.
Trend towards gentle winter sports
That was grist to the mill of those who were promoting ski touring as a gentle tourism alternative to the hustle and bustle of the slopes long before the pandemic. Above all, they like to use the energy argument. Tourers don’t need cable cars or artificially produced snow. The latter is only partially true in view of the masses of ski tourers. And finally, it shouldn’t be forgotten: the main part of the CO2 emissions during a skiing holiday is due to the arrival and departure by car.
Reward: The view makes up for the effort.
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Image: dpa
Ski tour instead of ski lift – but is that realistic at all? Ski touring has long been a lifestyle. There are said to be 600,000 to 700,000 ski tourers in Germany and Austria – in each case. According to the German Alpine Association twenty years ago, there were only around 200,000 in Germany. In the sports retail trade in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, we learn that business is still booming: “Demand is still high. There seems to be a general trend towards gentle winter sports,” explains Hans Conrad, who is said to be Europe’s largest ski retailer. The trend will probably even increase: in four years, ski mountaineering will be an Olympic discipline. To the delight of the equipment manufacturers: According to the Association of Austrian Sporting Goods Manufacturers and Equipment Suppliers, almost 300,000 pairs of alpine skis and 77,000 pairs of touring skis were sold last winter in Austria alone. For comparison: In the 2018/19 winter season there were 50,000 pairs of touring skis. Christoph Engl, CEO of the South Tyrolean Oberalp Group, which also owns the brands Salewa and Dynafit, puts the annual market potential of touring skis sold throughout Europe at 500,000 – including the hybrid models, which are also suitable as downhill skis.