The good news is that Obertauern is and remains sure of snow! Although the question of snow certainty may be relevant for many skiing regions in the alpine area in the mid-term, it isn’t even a consideration for Obertauern. The highest situated winter sport destination of the Salzburger Land has always promoted itself with its proverbial snow certainty yet now a study conducted by ski tourism researcher Günther Aigner proves that Obertauern is, indeed, the winter sport destination with the greatest certainty of snow in Austria! At 1,740 metres, Obertauern is the highest situated winter sport destination in the Salzburger Land and has always been famous as one of the resorts with the most snow. Yet now it has an official and scientifically proven seal! According to a study by the famous ski tourism researcher Günther Aigner, Obertauern is the winter sport destination with the greatest certainty of snow in Austria.

The study is based largely on measurements of snow volume of the past one hundred years of the Austrian Hydrographic State Services. Obertauern leads the ranking as the most snow-sure town with an average maximum snow height of 264 cm. And it is interesting to note that there is no decline when looking at the snow height of the past 108 years - so, excellent news for future snow enjoyment!

In Austria, the Hydrographic State Services and their predecessor institutions have been recording the snow volume of numerous places for more than one hundred years which allows a comparison to be made over a long period of many winter sport destinations. The long time period is also necessary as this allows any fluctuations in snow volume to be evened out statistically and provides a more accurate average sum. This, in turn, indicates how much snow really falls in a particular place. In his study, Günther Aigner incorporated the seven Austrian federal states in which there are winter sports. From these federal states he chose the places which were, according to the figures, most sure of snow, also seven, to compare these with one another. The study incorporated the officially recorded figures of snow heights of the past 30 years, from winter 1985/86 to winter 2014/15.

From a scientific viewpoint there are two parameters with which the frequent occurrence of large amounts of snow can be objectively established. These are the annual new snow figures on the one hand and the annual maximum snow heights on the other. As the new snow figures of the past two decades have not been reliably recorded in all places, Aigner analysed the annual maximum snow heights. With 264 centimetres as the average maximum snow height, Obertauern leads the ranking of Austrian resorts with the most snow by far. The second place, located on the Arlberg, had 197 centimetres which is still a good 25% below Obertauern’s figure.

Be there and enjoy unforgettable winter holidays in Obertauern, in the Apartment Hotel Glöcknerin.