Yay! Soon we'll have the first snow!
At 1,100 metres above sea level, the Kaiserau invites you to ski in the sun. The award of the Austrian Piste Seal of Quality shows that the family ski area has the best conditions for a fantastic day on two skis. This is the responsibility of operations manager Andreas Ysopp, who makes it snow every year anew.
In the immediate vicinity of the spacious car park on the Kaiserau high plateau is the reservoir pond, on whose footbridge Andreas Ysopp looks down to check the two submersible pumps. To ensure that they work properly for snowmaking on the slopes, the water had to be drained this autumn and the bottom of the pond cleared of mud and gravel with an excavator. Fortunately, this is only rarely necessary as „we take good care to ensure that the water is not contaminated,“ says Ysopp. This is also the reason why it is not permitted to swim in the reservoir, explains the operations manager. It took a whole three weeks this autumn before the pond could be refilled with water. The reason for this: „Only a small, precisely calculated amount of water from the Kaiseraubach may be discharged into our storage pond. If we actually need more, we are only allowed to use water from the Dientmannsdorferbach for a short time,“ says the operations manager, emphasising the strict requirements due to the increasing water shortage in the Alpine region.
Hoping for the best weather
After refilling the reservoir, ski operations can now start the new season with 10,000 cubic metres of water. A filling quantity „that we have to make do with for the entire winter to make snow on the slopes,“ emphasises Ysopp. However, whether the snow lances on the Kaiserau can be put into operation depends not only on the water level in the reservoir, but also on the weather conditions. „You can only make snow when the temperatures drop to minus 3 degrees. However, it is only really optimal from minus 7 degrees,“ says Ysopp. Why? „If I make snow at minus 7 degrees, I produce the same amount of snow in one day as I would in a whole week at minus 3 degrees,“ says the operations manager, drawing a comparison. So it's no wonder that he checks the weather forecasts several times a day during the winter months and calculates the resulting wet bulb temperature. The latter indicates how much water the air can absorb at a certain temperature. This information is particularly important because „the drier the snow, the better the grip on the piste. Wet snow leads to icy slopes, which doesn't exactly make skiing any more enjoyable. It's just like in nature - in the end, it's the weather that determines the quality of the snow,“ says Ysopp.
Why artificial snow only falls at night
Snow has been produced on the Kaiserau since the 1990s. In 2005, the snowmaking system underwent a general overhaul: pipes were renewed and all 24 shafts were equipped with snow lances. Previously there had only been six, which is why „the lances had to be painstakingly dismantled, taken apart, moved to the next location at night and set up again. This was the only way we could achieve even snow coverage,“ recalls Ysopp. Although this is fortunately no longer necessary today, one thing has remained the same: Snow is always produced at night. „We attach great importance to ensuring that ski guests don't notice any of the work and can use the slopes undisturbed throughout the day. That's why everything is done at night,“ says Ysopp. From late in the evening until early in the morning, the operations manager makes his rounds with the Skidoo to continuously monitor the snowmaking. „That way, I can intervene immediately if one of the lances develops a fault,“ says Ysopp, explaining his night-time duties.
Dancing with the Pistenbully
In addition to snowmaking, he would also be reluctant to entrust the grooming of the slopes to others, as the operations manager says: „It's simply too delicate a job,“ he explains. After all, it takes a lot of know-how to prevent the heavy equipment from slipping on steep terrain: „The Pistenbully weighs ten tonnes. I have to be able to dance on the mountain with it,“ he says with a laugh, pointing to the steep piste next to the Brunntal lift. A particular challenge: the forest road that crosses the slope several times. It takes such a large amount of artificial snow to level out these cuts that every single section of piste between the lanes could be covered with it. Preparing the steep slope therefore takes much longer than on other pistes, which is why the Brunntal lift can only open each year after the Schlosslift and the Kinderland, explains Ysopp.
When the temperatures rise
Due to global warming and the resulting winters with little snow, artificial snowmaking on the pistes in the Alps has increased massively. This is also the case on the Kaiserau. While skiing often started as early as the end of November in the 1990s, nowadays the season usually only opens around Christmas. Also, „the weather currents have turned more and more to the south in recent years, which increases the Föhn wind and makes snow production more difficult,“ says Ysopp. The shorter the time window for snowmaking, the more valuable the white gold is for ski operations. Special care is therefore required when applying the artificial snow layer: „It can happen that the tracks of the snow groomer come into contact with the soil under the piste. Then I have to stop immediately, get off and clean everything before I can continue my work,“ says the operator. An arduous task, but one that is necessary. Even a small amount of soil the size of a fingernail would be enough to contaminate an entire square metre of the slope.
Multi-award-winning ski resort
The fact that the pistes on the Kaiserau are perfectly groomed is not least due to the many years of experience that Andreas Ysopp can look back on. The good quality that guests find in the small, fine family ski area on the high plateau between Admont and Trieben has already been recognised several times. Kaiserau has been awarded the Austrian Piste Seal of Quality three times in a row. It is not just the piste that is assessed, but the entire infrastructure of the ski area - from the car park and signposting to safety and environmental aspects: The Kaiserau scores highly in all of these areas, which is why the great popularity of the family ski area continues unabated.
