SpotCheck | Donnersbachtal

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.

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.

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.