Three Regions - Three Years: ALPIN CARD Looks Towards Winter With Optimism

The three premium regions, the Skicircus Saalbach Hinterglemm Leogang Fieberbrunn, the Schmittenhöhe in Zell am See and the Kitzsteinhorn Kaprun have been working together successfully in the ALPIN CARD ticket association for three years now and offer guests and locals a national alpine range with a premium experience density. Despite the challenges caused by the current energy crisis, the ALPIN CARD partners are looking forward to the 2022/23 winter season with confidence, also due to the current good booking situation.

The three premium ski regions of the ALPIN CARD have already successfully completed the start of winter, the first slopes in the Kitzsteinhorn glacier ski area have been open since October 7th. The large number of visitors during the first days of skiing has already shown that the need for winter sports experiences is clearly noticeable - this is reflected in the currently good booking situation for winter in the three premium regions. In general, alpine winter sports are the main motor for tourism, as the more than 50 million days of skiing throughout Austria are a key economic factor. With an annual added value of more than 5.9 billion euros, the existence of thousands of companies and jobs and thus the livelihood of many people in the regions is secured.

Energy efficiency and energy saving

The seven mountain railway companies in the ALPIN CARD network are trying to use energy as efficiently and sparingly as possible with many individual measures and have prepared accordingly for the winter season. Norbert Karlsböck, CEO of Gletscherbahnen Kaprun AG: "We have been working as a group on the further development of energy management for years, which meets the requirements of sustainable operations and will vigorously promote the expansion of renewable energies."

New Advisory Board Chairman with track record

The spokesman for the Salzburg cable car industry and board member of Schmittenhöhebahn AG, Erich Egger, looks back on three years of successful cooperation with his cooperation partners: "In the last 3 years, we have proven how good cooperation works - after all, we had to face enormous challenges, especially during deal with the pandemic. The good acceptance of the ticket association by both locals and guests proves us right and spurs us on to further improve our offer.” Egger was recently appointed as the successor to Hannes Schwabl as chairman of the ALPIN CARD advisory board.

New ticket prices for winter 2022/23

“Due to the current economic conditions, we cannot avoid making price adjustments for the various Ski ALPIN CARD tickets. We are keeping the increases at a market level, just below the current rate of inflation. The day ski pass will cost 59.50 euros in the pre-season and 66 euros in the high season. It is still very important to us to be able to offer families with children and young people an attractively priced offer in winter 2022/23," says Erich Egger.

Junior XPLORE CARD – up to 408 km of slopes for 15 euros

Therefore, in the coming winter season, in addition to increased discounts for school groups, there will again be the Junior XPLORE CARD for 15 euros, which gives all skiers under the age of 19 the opportunity every Saturday to use the 121 cable cars and lifts and up to 408 kilometers of slopes of Ski ALPIN CARD, one of the strongest ticket associations in the Alps, to experience up close. "Young skiers are particularly important to us," emphasizes Isabella Dschulnigg-Geissler, Managing Director of Saalbacher Bergbahnen GmbH. "We want to give young skiers the opportunity to take full advantage of the highlights of our ski regions again this year."

Alpin Card stands for winter sports at the highest level

The range of slopes and experiences in the three premium ski regions Skicircus Saalbach Hinterglemm Leogang Fieberbrunn, Schmittenhöhe in Zell am See and Kitzsteinhorn Kaprun is unique in terms of density and variety. “Our guests are used to the highest level of comfort, and we want to meet these demands again this winter. Maintaining the quality of all offers and services in the network is the focus of the three ALPIN CARD regions and will make it possible to experience the most beautiful facets of winter sports in the regions with just one card in the coming winter," say the managing directors of the three mountain railways, despite all the challenges optimistic for the 2022/23 winter season.

Skicircus Saalbach Hinterglemm Leogang Fieberbrunn

The "Home of Lässig", the Skicircus Saalbach Hinterglemm Leogang Fieberbrunn offers skiing fun at the highest level and is one of the largest and most varied ski areas in Austria: 70 cable cars and lifts open up 270 kilometers of downhill runs. State-of-the-art lifts guarantee top-class skiing fun. Snow parks, fun slopes and countless freeride descent options open up great freedom. New for winter 2022/23 is the new L7 Asitzkogelbahn 8-seater in Leogang, a state-of-the-art detachable 8-seater chairlift with weather protection hood and safety bar from Doppelmayr with a capacity of 3,700 people per hour, which replaces the old L7 Sportbahn 6-seater.

Pleasure skiing with a panoramic view: the Schmittenhöhe in Zell am See

Dolce winter sports enthusiasts will find perfect conditions on the Schmittenhöhe in the heart of the Alpin Card region. The designated pleasure ski area scores with an unforgettable view of the highest mountains in Austria and Lake Zell. The wide and varied range of pistes also includes five attractive and long valley runs with more than 5,200 meters in altitude as well as ski-in ski-out to the power of 3. The numerous culinary pleasure stations round off the high-quality skiing and pleasure experience on the Schmittenhöhe.

Kitzsteinhorn – THE glacier: TOP snow quality from October to May

Winter sports enthusiasts and day trippers come to the Kitzsteinhorn in Zell am See-Kaprun to enjoy nature and sport in a class of its own. Winter sports enthusiasts have been making their first turns on the wide glacier slopes since October 7th. The altitude and close proximity to the Hohe Tauern National Park make a day of winter sports on the Kitzsteinhorn so unique. In winter, the K-ONNECTION connects the center of Kaprun via the Maiskogel family ski area with the Kitzsteinhorn, enabling a valley descent from the glacier directly into the valley.

Further information and prices: www.alpincard.at