The Kalkkögel in Tyrol are located southwest of Innsbruck between the Axamer Lizum and Schlick 2000 ski resorts. It is precisely this location that could now be the protected area's undoing. The ski areas are to be connected by a lift that runs through the middle of the protected mountain area. The Austrian Alpine Association recently launched a petition in an attempt to counterbalance the ever-increasing political lobbying of the planners.
The rugged rock formations in the Sellrain group were placed under protection by the Tyrolean provincial government back in 1983 due to their uniqueness. As a result, they offer the residents of the greater Innsbruck area and many tourists a largely untouched recreational area. This is precisely why the Kalkkögel are highly valued by many winter sports enthusiasts as a touring and off-piste area (see e.g. PowderGuide.com TouringTip from winter 2011). Despite the proximity to two ski resorts, the steep couloirs and expansive slopes of this mountain group usually make you feel very far away from ski tourism and its often omnipresent hut kitsch and après-ski sound.
The legal situation actually seems clear. Several legal opinions come to the conclusion that development of the Kalkkögel is not possible according to the current legal situation. However, this seems to be of little interest to the planners of the merger and so the planning and lobbying for the project continues. Ultimately, the pressure exerted by the planners on politicians and the public to abolish the protected area has become ever greater ((probably paid) Facebook posts promoting the merger have just been launched). To ensure that public opinion is not left entirely to the proponents of the lift connection, the Innsbruck Alpine Association, together with its umbrella organization, the Austrian Alpine Association, has decided to launch a petition against this project.
Proponents argue that the two lift towers required for the connection can hardly have any negative impact on the protected area. The area required for the towers may be minimal, but the impact on the untouched landscape is still likely to be incisive. Even more dangerous than the merger and its impact on the Kalkkögel in itself, however, would be the signal that such a success would send to the planners of other ski resort expansions in protected areas: If you just persevere and continue planning undeterred despite the clear legal situation, even projects that many thought impossible have a chance of being realized. The plans that the Stubai tourism experts apparently already have in the drawer show that this argument has not been plucked out of thin air. In addition to the actual merger under discussion, the planners are possibly already thinking about a number of other lift projects in the protected area or its immediate surroundings (see contribution from Alpenverein Innsbruck from June 2014).
So that many of you can still experience unique descents in this untouched and beautiful landscape, we would like to invite you to support the petition. Further information can be found on the pages of the Alpine associations (see links below).
