General Information

Geography and Tourism

The city of Schladming is a famous skiing resort in the Austrian province of Styria. The city is part of the Dachstein-Tauern region offering a wide variety of winter sports. FIS worldcup ski races are held regularly on the famous Planai, which has been linked together with three other mountains to form one large skiing area, the Vier-Berge-Schaukel (site in German). In 1982, Schladming hosted the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships; 1999 the neighbouring town of Ramsau hosted the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships. In 2013 Schladming will again host the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships!

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Travel Information

The following information should help you plan your journey to Schladming more easily.

• By car:
  The city can be reached from Germany via Salzburg, from Italy via Villach, and from within Austria from Vienna, Graz, and Linz on expressways and partly highways (more detailed information including a schematic map showing the main traffic routes through Austria can be found here). If you are considering to travel to Schladming with your car or with a rental car from a nearby airport, please be aware that road conditions in early March can be winterly.

• By train:
  Schladming is well reachable by train from all major Austrian cities. The approximate travel times by train are 4:10 hours from Vienna, 2:40 hours from Graz, 3:00 hours from Linz, 1:30 hours from Salzburg (add 1:40 hours for the link to Munich), and 3:00 hours from Innsbruck. For further information and planning of your trip, please visit the website of the Austrian Railways, ÖBB. The English version of their connections query page can be found here.

• By plane:
  The cities listed above together with their train-travel times to Schladming all have international airports. Depending on your preferred airline and/or your airport of origin, it may be advisable to choose one or the other. The closest of the above airports is Salzburg; the largest is Munich. Please consult your travel agency for details on flight planning. There are also a number of online agencies, such as Expedia, where one can easily check flight connections and availability.

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Current Weather and Forecasts

The links in this section should provide an overview of the weather situation in Austria and in and around Schladming. The weather pages of the National Austrian Broadcasting Corporation ORF can be found here; they include current ("aktuell") and recent ("die letzten Stunden") satellite images ("Satellitenbilder") of central Europe. For a precipitation report and a snow/rain forecast for the next couple of days in the central European Alpine region, see the maps here. On the Planai information page you can find more information about the current weather and snow situation including a live webcam and picture.

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Miscellaneous Information

Lift Tickets:

Planai-Hochwurzen-Bahnen offer a reduction for the following lift- tickets:

• "Halbtageskarte" (valid 1/2 day from 12⁰⁰ on)
• "Tageskarte" (valid one day)
• "Mehrtages-Skipass" (valid 2, 3, ... up to 14 days, see price list below)

The tickets can be used for all cable-cars, lifts, and ski-busses in the "Skiparadies Dachstein - Tauern": Hauser Kaibling, Planai, Hochwurzen and Reiteralm.

Reduced tickets for participants of the school and accompanying persons are obtainable at the ticket office upon delivery of one of the coupons enclosed in the School folder you will be given at the registration desk.

Skiing:

Instructions in skiing can be made available. Skiing equipment (alpine and cross-country) can be rented at ski-shops in Schladming.

Tobogganing:

The alpine road down from Hochwurzen (closed for car traffic in the afternoon and evening) is an excellent tobogganing course. Sledges can be rented at Gasthaus Winterer (Rohrmoos) and other places near the end of the tobogganing track. Most exciting is tobogganing in the moonlight.

Slopes around Schladming:

1. Planai: Accessible by cable-way, chair-lift or bus from Schadming
2. Hochwurzen: Accessible by chair- and drag-lifts or bus from Schladming and by cable-way from Rohrmoos. There are several small lifts and easy slopes for beginners at Rohrmoos (Schischule).
3. Hauser Kaibling: Bus to the city of Haus, cable-ways, several drag-lifts
4. Reiteralm: Bus or train to Pichl, chair-lift and several drag-lifts, cable-way from Gleiming
5. Türlwandhütte: Magnificent view of the southern rock face of the Dachstein and Tauern mountains. Bus to hotel Türlwand, several drag-lifts
6. Dachstein: Accessible by the Dachstein-Südwand cable-way; in a few minutes you can reach the Hunerkogel (2700m) from the hotel Türlwand (1700m). Hunerkogel is in the Dachstein glacier region and has a marvellous view. Cross-country skiing on the glacier, chair- and drag-lifts for alpine skiing.

Cross-Country Skiing:

1. Rohrmoos-Obertal: Bus to Schischule Rohrmoos, 17km track
2. Untertal: Bus to Untertal, 5km track (near Gasthaus Tetter)
3. Ramsau: Bus to Ramsau, famous cross-country skiing centre
4. Schladming-Haus-Aich-Pruggern: 20km track in the Enns valley