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SpotCheck | Donnersbachtal

Ennstal ski touring and freeriding delicacies

by Helmut Gassler 01/10/2024
Today the focus is on the sometimes forgotten Styria. In this article, Helmut Gassler shows us that there is more than just industrial manufacturing there and that it is worth going on a tour.

As an industrialised area, Styria has largely been spared the extreme excesses of intensive tourism ("overtourism"). Many consider the Styrian mountains, which remain entirely below 3000 metres, to be too unspectacular. After all, Styria is the cradle of alpine skiing in Austria. We have two Styrians to thank for the fact that they were the first to test out the classic northern European means of transport "skis" for alpine use and climbed the summit of the Stuhleck from Mürzzuschlag in 1892, a tour of more than 1000 metres in altitude. This heralded the start of alpine ski touring and also made the region around Semmering Austria's first internationally significant winter sports arena.

Today, there are a whole series of mountain valleys in Styria that offer almost inexhaustible potential for ski tours of all levels of difficulty and where you can also find one or two ski resorts with freeride opportunities that are not immediately tracked out following the first hours of sunshine after a fresh snowfall.

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Donnersbachtal

The Donnersbachtal is a small side valley of the Enns Valley, which extends a little east of Schladming from the main valley of the Enns almost directly southwards towards the main Alpine ridge (defined here by the Niedere Tauern). Even if it is little known in western Austria or even in Germany, it is still a traditional ski destination in Styria. In the old classic "Skiglück vom Wienerwald bis zum Dachstein" by Viennese mountain sports legend Hans Schwanda from the early 1960s, there are several entries relating to the Donnersbachtal.

From the main tourist resort in the valley, Donnersbachwald (976m), chair lifts take you up to the Riesneralm or to the ridge below the Riesner Krispen (1922m), where the centre of a small but fine ski area is located.  The aforementioned Hans Schwanda even ennobled it with the Swiss title: "The descent from the Riesner Krispen with a difference in altitude of a thousand metres is famous in Styria and is not called the 'Styrian Parsenn' for nothing". In addition to the piste runs, this ski area also offers some really nice freeride slopes. With the downhill variation via the serviced Mörsbachhütte, you also have a direct connection from this small, fine ski area to very rewarding north-facing powder slope in the huge terrain chamber around the (world-famous in Styria) Große Bärneck (2071 m). Again in the words of Hans Schwanda: "The tours around the Mörsbachhütte in the Wölzer Tauern are among the most rewarding tours in this area. Wide, snow-covered cirques with few trees, almost all descents facing north, wide open slopes, wonderful meadows in the lowest part - all this makes for a magnificent area for skiers.".

The Planneralm (1600 - 2000m) is also a snow-sure "snow bowl" for lift-supported powder skiing. For years, pure natural snow was advertised here due to the proverbial abundance of snow, but for some time now, artificial snow has also been used here if necessary.

Between the lifts (for a long time exclusively T-bar lifts, but now a modern chairlift has also found its way here) there is plenty of space for deep-snow turns, with the domed terrain sparsely covered with trees and mountain pines providing variety. In addition to powder-orientated tours (e.g. around the Schreinl, 2154m or the Hintergullingspitze, 2054m), there are also steep south-facing slopes, which often provide firn fun early in the year. The classic in this sense is the Gstemmerspitze (2100m), which runs in a south-facing steep slope directly down to the huts and inns of the Planneralm. The quality of this descent was again "honoured" by the old master Hans Schwanda in the typically flowery formulations of the time.

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At the head of the Donnersbachtal valley, ski tourers have it all to themselves and find a handful of rewarding tour destinations. Their predominantly north-facing location often ensures excellent powder snow conditions in the snow-covered terrain chambers. The proverbial abundance of snow in this congested location, directly on the north side of the main Alpine ridge, ensures a constant supply of this indispensable raw material (the snow measuring station of the Styrian LWD on the Planneralm (1707m) repeatedly reaches the Austrian peak for this altitude). The starting point for the tours at the head of the valley is the Meng group of houses (1066m), where there is a small car park that is cleared especially for tourers in winter.

The Hochwart (2301m) is one of the most famous and also the most beautiful in terms of downhill skiing. The only fly in the ointment is the somewhat longer forest road access, which is then replaced by a whole series of tree-free steep slopes from around 1500m, which line up like a string of pearls and reach almost 40 degrees in the summit area.

The Hahnalpl (1942m), on the other hand, is a special treat and almost an insider tip. Don't be fooled by the low absolute altitude. After all, the Hahnalpl is adorned with an extremely photogenic, always heavily overgrown summit ridge, which challenges many a climber to Munchhausen-like exaggerations regarding his or her alpinistic deeds. The descent options themselves are initially characterised by open alpine slopes (to the north-west or north) and beautiful, skier-friendly forest slopes that lead down to the forest road system, which - as is generally the case in this area - is necessary to overcome the steep forest slopes between the valley floor at 1000m and approx. 1500m.

In total, there are at least half a dozen other tour options starting from the head of the valley. These include the Wolfnalmspitze (1000 metres altitude) or the longer and significantly more alpine Hochweberspitze (2375 m).

Conclusion

The ski areas in Styria are not new territory. The areas and routes presented here are all well-known and popular in the region, so you will often come across existing tracks. However - and this is what sets this region apart - you won't find the often off-putting traces of mass tourism here. From the mountain farm with adjoining overnight accommodation to the village inn and the ski lifts, you will still find authentic-looking structures here, far removed from the transformations that were necessary in other regions in order to organise an efficient (supra)tourist mass industry. Not least for this reason, a visit to this region may also contribute to the long-term preservation of an alternative style of tourism that is not based on the maximum exploitation of available resources.

Links and literature:

Planneralm - The highest ski village in Styria

Ski resort Ski Riesneralm - ski holiday Austria - ski resort Austria - insider tip - high altitude skiing enjoyment

Schwanda, Hans (1965): Skiglück vom Wienerwald bis zum Dachstein, Vienna.

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This article has been automatically translated by DeepL with subsequent editing. If you notice any spelling or grammatical errors or if the translation has lost its meaning, please write an e-mail to the editors.

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