WINTER SPORTS at a snow assured height
TURM2 affords a view of the opposite ski piste and is located just a few hundred metres away from the Kornocklift, one of a total of 14 ski lifts. The Alpenpark apartment complex is located beside the lift and houses the reception for TURM2 guests. The reception boasts a separate storage space, including a ski shoe dryer for winter sports equipment.
So what do the experts have to say about skiing at Turracher Höhe? Well-known ski journalist Bert Romani (ANWB and editor-in-chief of Ski Magazine) wrote a review on the ski area.
Mountains, lakes and plenty of sunshine hours: all this awaits you as a guest of the high plateau. Hospitality and family holiday are the mottos for this area. And because the province border runs straight through the centre of the beautiful Turracher See, the area is divided by Steirmarken and Carinthia. The exceptionally snow-assured ski area between Schoberriegel at 2208 metres and Rinsennock at 2334 metres is especially family-friendly and popular with beginners and advanced skiers who know how to relish the rolling slopes. The blue and easy red pistes located mainly on the east side are particular favourites.
Occasionally, as a journalist, you arrive in a ski area and are immediately surprised. The area looks far bigger than the piste map would have you believe and the region radiates silence. This is certainly true in comparison to nearby Bad Kleinkirchheim on the border of Carinthia. The Turracher Höhe reminds me of the vastness of the National Parks in Canada; an abundance of space, forest and above all, silence. Up on the highest peak, my suspicions are confirmed: no built-up areas, no horizon polluted with high-voltage masts, nothing but pure nature as far as the eye can see. This is still a pristine region where, very intelligently, just enough lifts have been built to enjoy the mountains to the full.
We start at the Panoramabahn, a modern Kombibahn where six-person lifts and gondolas for eight hang from the cable. What do you mean, comfortable? You have a choice. When the weather is fine you can enjoy sitting outside in the sun and if it is windy or snowing you can opt for the covered gondola. The other ski lifts are also modern and particularly efficient. These lifts connect many descent opportunities and you immediately notice the variety. The view over the lake is magnificent; the trees are strong and towering and the pistes wind unexpected paths downhill. The ski area is divided over two mountains that are easily connected. The downhill descent on the Steirmarken side is FIS approved and you notice it. The magnificent slope gradient allows you to make great speed and enjoy a sporting descent: the perfect training piste for champions. A genuine black piste is absent, but who cares? Nowadays, a nice off-piste stretch is far more exciting and you will find one of those right beside the piste.
No less than fourteen ski huts offer you all you need to comfortably navigate a day of skiing. And what is unique in the Turracher Höhe is that the majority of these mountain restaurants can also be reached relatively easily on foot using cross-country skis. I know very few ski areas where the different snow sports complement each other so well in terms of infrastructure. We ascend again with the Turrachbahn. Then it’s on to the Schwarzsee descent via a connecting piste. Up again with the t-bar Weitentallift to ski down to the lake in a continuous descent. The pistes are well designed and maintained and getting lost is impossible. Everything is just right. It has all been carefully executed, which is great for the guests and for me too.
Bert Romani is an avid skier and has been writing ski stories for over twenty years. There are very countries where his skis have not challenged the mountains: first at ANWB and later, as editor-in-chief for Ski Magazine. Nowadays, he has his own knowledge centre for winter sports and tourism and is involved with most of the Netherlands' winter sports magazines.
Watch click here to see the piste map.
So what do the experts have to say about skiing at Turracher Höhe? Well-known ski journalist Bert Romani (ANWB and editor-in-chief of Ski Magazine) wrote a review on the ski area.
Turracher Höhe, the pearl of Austria
Mountains, lakes and plenty of sunshine hours: all this awaits you as a guest of the high plateau. Hospitality and family holiday are the mottos for this area. And because the province border runs straight through the centre of the beautiful Turracher See, the area is divided by Steirmarken and Carinthia. The exceptionally snow-assured ski area between Schoberriegel at 2208 metres and Rinsennock at 2334 metres is especially family-friendly and popular with beginners and advanced skiers who know how to relish the rolling slopes. The blue and easy red pistes located mainly on the east side are particular favourites.Occasionally, as a journalist, you arrive in a ski area and are immediately surprised. The area looks far bigger than the piste map would have you believe and the region radiates silence. This is certainly true in comparison to nearby Bad Kleinkirchheim on the border of Carinthia. The Turracher Höhe reminds me of the vastness of the National Parks in Canada; an abundance of space, forest and above all, silence. Up on the highest peak, my suspicions are confirmed: no built-up areas, no horizon polluted with high-voltage masts, nothing but pure nature as far as the eye can see. This is still a pristine region where, very intelligently, just enough lifts have been built to enjoy the mountains to the full.
We start at the Panoramabahn, a modern Kombibahn where six-person lifts and gondolas for eight hang from the cable. What do you mean, comfortable? You have a choice. When the weather is fine you can enjoy sitting outside in the sun and if it is windy or snowing you can opt for the covered gondola. The other ski lifts are also modern and particularly efficient. These lifts connect many descent opportunities and you immediately notice the variety. The view over the lake is magnificent; the trees are strong and towering and the pistes wind unexpected paths downhill. The ski area is divided over two mountains that are easily connected. The downhill descent on the Steirmarken side is FIS approved and you notice it. The magnificent slope gradient allows you to make great speed and enjoy a sporting descent: the perfect training piste for champions. A genuine black piste is absent, but who cares? Nowadays, a nice off-piste stretch is far more exciting and you will find one of those right beside the piste.
No less than fourteen ski huts offer you all you need to comfortably navigate a day of skiing. And what is unique in the Turracher Höhe is that the majority of these mountain restaurants can also be reached relatively easily on foot using cross-country skis. I know very few ski areas where the different snow sports complement each other so well in terms of infrastructure. We ascend again with the Turrachbahn. Then it’s on to the Schwarzsee descent via a connecting piste. Up again with the t-bar Weitentallift to ski down to the lake in a continuous descent. The pistes are well designed and maintained and getting lost is impossible. Everything is just right. It has all been carefully executed, which is great for the guests and for me too.
Bert Romani is an avid skier and has been writing ski stories for over twenty years. There are very countries where his skis have not challenged the mountains: first at ANWB and later, as editor-in-chief for Ski Magazine. Nowadays, he has his own knowledge centre for winter sports and tourism and is involved with most of the Netherlands' winter sports magazines.
Watch click here to see the piste map.