Dachstein Krippenstein

If you hold an SLS ski pass, you cannot miss the mountain that rises above the village of Obertraun and Lake Hallstattersee. I mean the Krippenstein, which rises to 2,100 metres, while its taller brother, the Hoher Krippenstein, reaches 2,109 metres. It forms the northern, and remarkably striking, edge of the Dachstein massif. Do not expect a ski circus here with a huge number of pistes and lifts. Nor is the Krippenstein sky-high, yet its character is truly high-alpine. The valley station of the Dachstein Krippensteinbahn cable car is at just 609 m. Up to the change point the cable car rests on a single pylon, and the first section ends at the Schonbergalm middle station at 1,350 m. There is a mountain hotel there with the feel of a real "Eagle's Nest". On the way up, the yellow cabin passes magnificent rock faces. The second section is much longer, has only two pylons and ends just below the summit of the Krippenstein. Here stands the Berghotel, a frequent overnight base for Krippenstein regulars. The cable car has a third section too, as it takes you over to the other, western side of the mountain, to the Gjaidalm pasture at 1,750 m. The view from around the Berghotel is spectacular. We are on the vast Dachstein Plateau. To the south the terrain rises gradually up to the Dachstein glacier, or strictly speaking the Schladminger glacier, which has a small year-round ski area. The SLS pass is valid there as well. Of course you cannot get there over the mountain: you have to drive all the way round the Dachstein massif. Below the Berghotel terrace there are two lifts, a T-bar and a newly built chairlift. The three blue pistes here are not long, just right for leisurely skiing. Similarly, at the Gjaidalm you can ski two short blue pistes served by two T-bars. So far, apart from the view, there is nothing to rave about. What does deserve the praise is the run down to the valley... This is the so-called Skiabfahrt, which is... wait for it!!! 11 kilometres long!!! It is the longest groomed piste I have ever skied. The upper part, down to the Gjaidalm, is blue and fairly flat. The next section, to Krippenbrunn at 1,550 m, is red. From Krippenbrunn the real skiing begins, with almost 1,000 metres of vertical drop still to go (from 1,550 to 609 m)! The lower part of the piste is equipped with numerous snow cannons, and the steep sections with safety nets. There is no denying it: a few runs like this all the way to the bottom and you can call it a day... The Krippenstein is famous for its excellent snow conditions, and the lift network keeps growing. Above all, though, it is a mecca for freeride skiing, which you can read about on the following pages. From the summit, a great many routes in untouched deep snow lead down into the valley. Besides these many unmarked ones, you can take on three marked routes: Variante Schönberg, a descent to the middle station on the eastern slopes of the mountain, and Variante Imisl and Variante Eisgrube to the valley floor (below Krippenbrunn they join the Skiabfahrt) on the eastern and northern sides of the mountain.