Snow survey

The term "guarantee of snow" is an extremely popular advertising claim. Reliable snow means reliable income that secures the livelihood of many winter sports resorts in the Alps. Many regions, however, rely on extensive artificial snowmaking to keep this promise. At an altitude of 1,740 metres, Obertauern is the highest located winter sports resort in the state of Salzburg and has always prided itself on its natural snow reliability – a feature which has now been scientifically proven and state-certified. Günther Aigner, the renowned ski tourism researcher, has found that Obertauern has the greatest snow depths in Austria.

His survey is based on roughly 100 years' worth of snow depth measurements conducted by Austrian State Hydrographic Services. Aigner compared data of the past 30 years for the seven only Austrian states in which winter sports are possible. Then he determined the snowiest location in each individual state. With a mean maximum snow depth of 264 centimetres, Obertauern is by far the highest ranking region. The second-best location has an average snow depth of 197 centimetres – that's 25% less than Obertauern. Aigner's research also shows that, statistically, the snow depths in Obertauern have not changed in 108 years. There is thus no indication that the snowfall in Obertauern might decrease over time. And that means that Obertauern's guarantee of snow is not just a marketing claim, it is a scientifically proven fact.