Generation Snow And Hinterstoder-Wurzeralm Celebrate 10 Years Of Cooperation
For ten years, Generation Snow has been bringing children to Hinterstoder and the Wurzeralm for school trips, laying a significant foundation for a new generation of skiers. In addition, Generation Snow successfully organizes numerous day trips and weekend bus tours to Hinterstoder every winter season.
Behind this is Oliver Pongratz, whose company is not only one of Bavaria's leading winter sports tour operators, but also runs a professional ski school in the German Ski Instructors Association (DSV) with more than 120 ski instructors.
Over the past ten years, Oliver Pongratz and his company have brought more than 12,000 children to the slopes of Hinterstoder – always under the company motto: "We put a smile on your face." According to Olli (as everyone calls him) Pongratz, a lot has changed in recent years. Initially, around 80% of his participants in the school ski courses were already good skiers, while about 20% were beginners. "This ratio has now reversed," says Pongratz.
This development, however, doesn't change the outcome: the smiles on the young guests' faces have remained the same – if not even more frequent. "I don't know of any other sport where you, as a beginner, can experience success so quickly and excitingly. After four days, most can already conquer the mountain via a blue run," explains Pongratz. He sees many other positive aspects to skiing: the children spend time without their cell phones, enjoy each other's company, and the school ski trips often have a strong integrative effect.
Oliver Pongratz himself was already on skis at the age of three – no wonder, since his father was a ski instructor, ski jumper, and slalom skier. At 16, Pongratz completed his ski instructor training and subsequently founded Generation Snow in 2003. With this company, he offers winter sports trips and simultaneously operates a ski school with 120 ski instructors.
Rainer Rohregger, CEO of Hinterstoder-Wurzeralm Bergbahnen AG, particularly appreciates the positive atmosphere and passion for winter sports in the collaboration with Olli Pongratz. "Winter sports need people like Olli who inspire the next generation with their enthusiasm," says Rohregger. According to Pongratz, there is very strong demand from schools, as his company handles the entire organization of the winter sports week – or even individual days. Here, too, the program adapts to changing needs. For example, an alternative program is offered for non-skiers: This involves going through deep snow with a ranger to read animal tracks, or exploring the winter landscape on cross-country skis and snowshoes. "We have to constantly evolve, but we have the advantage of always being at the forefront of current trends. This allows us to often be the first to recognize what our guests – and thus also the new generation of skiers – want and how they want to spend their day on the slopes," says Pongratz.
He appreciates the diverse slopes and perfect accessibility from Bavaria in the cooperation with Hinterstoder. Hinterstoder is even ideal for day trips. Furthermore, the 16,500 m² children's area is an ideal practice area for beginners. "This infrastructure is invaluable and a true training ground for the next generation of skiers," says Pongratz.
Generation Snow was founded in 2003 by Oliver Pongratz and is today not only one of Bavaria's leading winter sports tour operators, but also a professional ski school in the German Ski Instructors Association (DSV) with more than 120 ski instructors.
