What happens at the Arlberg "Snow and Safety Conference" and why does it even exist?
The background to the conference is quickly explained. "The Arlberg" makes the eyes of experienced winter sports enthusiasts light up. The massif around the Arlberg Pass is known for its accumulated precipitation from the northwest and north and offers a wide variety of terrain in all exposures. The Arlberg was also one of the first destinations in the Alps to focus on ski tourism. In many respects, "the Arlberg" has shaped Alpine ski culture - be it terms such as the "Arlberg Three" (avalanche level 3 - which can be assessed differently in the busy off-piste terrain) or the early ski films from the 1920s and 1930s starring Hannes Schneider and Leni Riefenstahl.
The long tradition of off-piste skiing on the Arlberg described above, coupled with an increasing trend towards off-piste skiing, has prompted Lech-Zürs Tourismus GmbH to organize an information/prevention event on risk management in off-piste terrain for the past five years. This kills several birds with one stone, as Hermann Fercher, the world-renowned director of the company, put it in a nutshell. On the one hand, it ensures a certain level of capacity utilization at the start of the season regardless of the weather conditions and a first event that is worth reporting on. On the other hand, Lech-Zürs is actively investing in the risk competence of locals and guests, which reflects positively on Lech-Zürs in several respects. To be honest, the observer is left wondering why other tourist regions do not come up with a similar event.
