The use of snow cannons saved the season for the larger ski areas in Sauerland this winter. Although comparatively little snow fell, the lifts on the snow-covered slopes were in operation on average for 60 to 70 days, the Sauerland winter sports arena announced on Friday. 600,000 tourists were counted - slightly fewer than in the years before the corona pandemic. The season is not quite over yet: at least three ski lifts in Winterberg should continue to run until the end of the Easter holidays.

For smaller lifts without snow cannons, on the other hand, the season was rather bad. According to this information, there was only at least 20 centimeters of natural snow on 27 days - the minimum to be able to prepare slopes and cross-country ski trails without cannons. Operators of pure natural snow pistes were therefore only able to open on 5 to 20 days. The Winter Sports Arena lift network includes 34 ski areas with 126 lifts. It was founded 20 years ago in response to the snow-poor winters of the 1990s. Since then, around 125 million euros have been invested, including in the production of artificial snow.

Winter sports arena ski lift carousel Winterberg