The term “snow reliability” is widely used in marketing, as the reliable availability of snow is literally worth its weight in gold and secures the existence of many winter sports destinations across the Alps. In many places, however, snow reliability depends heavily on extensive artificial snowmaking. Obertauern, at 1,740 metres above sea level the highest ski resort in the Salzburg region, has always benefited from naturally reliable snow conditions. Now, this has effectively been confirmed by an official and scientific study.
According to research by well-known ski tourism expert Günther Aigner, Obertauern is the winter sports destination with the highest snow depths in Austria. The study is based on snow measurement data collected by the Austrian Hydrographic Services, much of which has been recorded for over 100 years. For the analysis, measurements from the past 30 years across Austria’s seven ski-relevant federal states were evaluated. From each region, the snowiest location was included in the comparison.
The Study
With 264 centimeters as the average maximum snow height, Obertauern leads the ranking of comparison locations by a large margin. It is also interesting that, according to the study, the snow heights in Obertauern have statistically not changed in the last 108 years. Therefore, Günther Aigner concludes that there is no evidence of a trend towards decreasing snow amounts in Obertauern. In other words: The snow reliability of Obertauern is not just a marketing claim, but a scientifically proven fact.
medium maximum snow height
The study found that Obertauern has an average maximum snow depth of 264 centimetres. This put Obertauern well ahead of the other Austrian locations included in the study.
Obertauern is located high in the Salzburg mountains and benefits from its unique geographical location. The resort lies at an altitude of 1,740 metres and is the highest winter sports resort in the province of Salzburg.
The study was conducted by ski tourism researcher Günther Aigner. His research was based on long-term snow measurements from the Austrian Hydrographic Services.
Obertauern sits in a natural bowl surrounded by the mountain slopes of the Radstädter Tauern. This unique location has earned the resort the nickname “snow bowl” and contributes to its high levels of natural snowfall.
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