Vienna, the capital city of Austria, is located just at the Eastern corner of the Alps. Indeed with clear air you can see the Schneeberg (2076m), the easternmost 2000er of the entire Alps even from certain areas within the city. Thus, it is not really surprising that a good share of the Viennese population loves to undertake outdoor activities in the mountains around Vienna. And of course, skiing is the number one sport in winter. Skiing in Vienna is so popular that skiing is taught at public school regularly during the winter months. There is even a drag lift right within the administrative boundaries of Vienna for those rare occasions that there is enough snow within the city itself.

With a population of more than two million people living in the greater Vienna region it is no surprise that a developed tourism infrastructure exists serving the skiing passion. Recently, the number of skiers from the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary has been increasing as well giving the ski resorts an additional boost resulting in a wave of modernizing old installations, lifts and cable cars and installing infrastructure to provide man-made snow for the ski slopes. Thus, today the ski resorts around Vienna do not lag behind anymore in terms of modern equipment to their famous counterparts in the western provinces of Austria (Tyrol or Salzburg).

Hochkar: The Hochkar (1400-1800m), approximately 120 kilometres west of Vienna, is the ski resort with the most alpine touch. Quite a good part of the ski slopes is way beyond the tree line. The ski resort was developed from scratch in the 1960s and it is accessed from the nearby village of Göstling down in the valley by a road. Due to the high amount of precipitation and the relative high altitude (the treeline is around 1500m in this part of the Alps) the Hochkar is usually covered by thick snow and the ski season lasts from late November to the beginning of May. There are 6 modern detachable quadlifts (some of them high speed detachable lifts) and 3 T-bars which serve about 20 kilometres of ski runs catering for all abilities from beginner to advanced skier. To insure for the occasionally bad winter, man made snow is provided for almost all different ski runs.

Lackenhof-Oetscher: Lackenhof (800-1500m) is an old logger’s village turned to a modern ski resort during the last decades. It is located just at the foot of the Oetscher (1893m), a mighty mountain towering above the whole region. Lackenhof boasts two different ski areas which are interlinked by lifts and ski runs. One area around the Kleiner Oetscher, a secondary mountain of the Oetscher massif, caters to beginner and intermediate skier and is perfectly suited for the whole family. The second area directly beneath the Oetscher offers some steeper runs ideally for advanced skiers. In general the ski runs in Lackenhof tend to be longer than in most other ski resorts of the Vienna region. The number of lifts totals eight of which two are modern chair lifts, one double chair and the five remaining lifts are T-bars. The total number of groomed ski runs is about 19 kilometres. The Oetscher also boasts amazing backcountry skiing possibilities on its rather steep slopes especially in spring when firm corn snow offers safe avalanche conditions.

Semmering-Stuhleck: The Semmering region is a very traditional recreational region developed as early as the nineteenth century when the area was opened up to visitors due to the construction of the Semmering railway. The Semmering railway is famous for being the very first real high mountain railway (constructed between 1848 and 1853) and has been inscribed as world heritage by the UNESCO in 1997. There are tow major ski resorts around the Semmering. The first one, located right at the Semmering pass is called Semmering Magic Mountain (1000-1340m). It offers a bunch of shorter but generally steeper ski runs around the Hirschenkogel (1340 m). The ski resort is equipped with a modern gondola cable car for 8 persons, one 4-quad and one T-bar (plus an additional training T-bar at the resort base). The steep slopes of the Semmering pass serve the FIS women’s worldcup on a regular basis (usually in December) with women’s slalom and giant Slalom. The ski resort is full equipped with man made snow facilities and a night-lighting system. It offers probably Austria’s best night skiing (usually from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.).

The second ski resort of the Semmering region is just about 10 kilometres to the South of the Semmering pass in Spital-Stuhleck (800-1770m). The ski area on the western slopes of the Stuhleck (1782m) is the most modern and largest in the Vienna region (about 90 kilometres south of Vienna). It boasts four high-speed quad lifts and six T-bars with a total of 24 kilometres of ski slopes, all equipped with man made snow facilities. Though the ski runs are generally longer here (spanning over several kilometres and with a maximum vertical of about 900m) they lack in steepness. Hence, the ski resort caters to the beginner and intermediate. The Stuhleck ski resort attracts not only Viennese and Austrian skiers but quite a high share of skiers are from Hungary and Slovakia. At weekends during peak season (Christmas and mid-winter) some queueing at the lifts and some crowding at the ski slopes is quite usual.

Of course, the list of ski resorts around Vienna is much longer. Even a conservative count (not counting the many single drag-lifts which serve mainly the local population) would easily lead to well over two dozen of ski resorts.

Some of these resorts like Moenichkirchen or Saint Corona at the Wechsel (a mountain on the very east edge of the Alps close to Hungary) cater especially to family oriented skiing like offering mainly mellow skiing terrain. Prices tend to be significantly lower here than in the larger resorts which make these resorts particularly interesting for skiers from Hungary or Slovakia where average wages are still way lower than in Austria.

Other resorts like Untersberg (only about 45 kilometres away from Vienna) advertise their natural approach of relying totally on natural snow which some skiers still prefer to man made snow. A particular nice ski resort is in the village of Annaberg (900-1370m) which offers some nice runs and possibilities for tree skiing (I have to admit that I am not a totally neutral reporter in this regard since I learned skiing there at the age of four).

And last but not least there are the many opportunities for backcountry skiing near Vienna to mention. From the first to the last snow of each winter thousands of enthusiastic ski mountaineers leave Vienna each weeked in search for untracked slopes and fresh powder or smooth corn.