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Samerberg Sue in danger ...
 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead

... of losing her local lifts.

This link http://www.samerberg.de/index.php?rubrik=2&seite=hochries&e2id=31 (in German) explains the efforts being made to save the Hochries cable-car and chairlift from being closed down. The Hochries in Bavaria, in the Samerberg area (roughly halfway between Munich and Salzburg), is only a very small ski area but it always saddens me if these smaller areas go the way of all flesh (I'm a romantic). The lifts have been making a loss of around €200,000 per annum, I believe, which probably is no surprise. The original owners could not support that any longer. Now the local authority in cooperation with a local section of the German Alpine Club (DAV) want to guarantee the operation of the lifts from April till October in this year.

It seems that the lifts are currently not running (maybe Samerberg Sue can tell more about when they have last operated), so this is maybe rather an Après Zone topic rather than a real Piste. However, I thought more snowHead might see it here and I wanted to encourage anyone in the area to use the lifts in summer, if they are running, to give the lifts their best chance of survival. Great hiking country or for holidays in general (lots of music festivals and the like).

Actually, I have skied the area twice. The first time was slightly embarrassing. Arriving at the top of the cable-car, I didn't find any piste plan, so I followed some other skiers who were just starting off. Mistake! I soon discovered that they were going down a different ridge from where I wanted to be! I ended up about 10 kms away from the lifts and where my car was Embarassed. Luckily, a kindly lady drove me back round to where I should have been (the main piste had started round the other side of the building). The other time I stopped for a couple of hours on the Hochries, the cable-car wasn't in operation, so I just bounced around with the local kids on the lower run beside the chairlift - enjoyable too.
ski holidays
ski holidays
 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person

espri, Very funny Espri! Laughing Laughing Laughing Laughing Actually I've never skied alpine here, only cross-country!

The main cable car is only used to access the top for walkers and tourers, there are no pistes and never have been. I use the lift mainly in Spring through to Autumn for access to the paragliding starts! But also for access to the ridges so I can travel further when out "Bergwandern". I'm not a snob or purist about using the available uplift facilities. And the state of my knees now means I am very grateful for the help to avoid painful descents on foot!

This is actually a very sensitive topic in our area as the whole Samerberg region has been economically shifted from farming to tourism. But a vocal number of retirees and others with less interest in the activities have been campaigning to remove all the lifts. They have effectively blocked all moves to upgrade the facilities. It has been a fight to get them to re-open the lifts as of April and several businesses are really on the brink of folding as a result. The local shop has already closed in Grainbach, leaving only the small supermarket in Törwang for the older and less mobile folks. The bakery is really primarily a café and that is struggling due to the lack of trade. Here we are with a perfect winter and not once has the local ski school been able to use their home slopes once beginners have progressed from their trainer lift!

There are way too many NIMBYs in our community!

Sue wink
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Samerberg Sue wrote:
The main cable car is only used to access the top for walkers and tourers, there are no pistes and never have been.

Maybe that's why I couldn't find a piste plan Laughing. Though back in the early 90s, when I made the mistake, I did think there was a piste down the west side of the mountain (I ended up east in Frasdorf).

Quote:
The bakery is really primarily a café and that is struggling due to the lack of trade.

I did stand my Retterin in der Not (saviour) a coffee and cake there, so maybe I should get lost more often!
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