Piste Preparation

At the Hintertux glacier there are up to 14 Kässbohrer and Prinoth piste preparation machines in service daily, in order to keep the pistes in perfect condition.

If the afternoon weather report indicates no snowfall for the following 12 hours, the pistes are already prepared during the previous evening. If this preparation is followed by a clear cold night, then the next day will provide beautiful, compact and easy-to-ride pistes.
The most important decision-making aid for piste preparation is the weather forecast and the experience of our employees!

 ... with fresh snow
In the case of fresh snow, the piste preparation machines are in operation from 04:30 in the morning. As newly-prepared fresh snow will not bind well with the previous snow by the start of operation at 8:00, the pistes will appear to be very soft on days like these. If snowfall continues during the preparation, it can occur that the pistes that have been already prepared in the early morning have an additional layer of snow and create the impression of not having been prepared. At the same time, pistes prepared in the morning can be subject to snowdrifts, which are perceived as very irritating.

... long periods of fine weather
During such times only the heavily-used pistes are newly prepared, so that the firmed-up snow is not broken up and the hard, compacted and non-slip blanket of snow is disturbed.
In the case of a very hard surface, the piste device is not always able to score off all humps and firm them up again. You will then find more of a coarse and ribbed piste surface.

Because of the high Alpine situation of our skiing area and weather conditions which can often change rapidly, it is unfortunately not always possible to ensure optimal piste conditions.