The secret of perfectly groomed tracks
What could be better than striding in perfectly groomed and track-set cross-country ski trails, soaking in the stillness of winter? Our skilled groomers are working day and night behind the scenes to ensure that skiers find perfect conditions on over 230 kilometres of cross-country ski trails around Lake Achensee.
After the first snowfall in autumn, the municipal maintenance crew begins to flatten the fresh snow with a roller made from old car tyres. This process squeezes the air out of the snow, creating a dense and supportive trail base that allows the ground underneath to freeze properly. When the next snowfall occurs, trail groomers can be used. The five-man crew that prepares the cross-country ski trails in Pertisau to the church in Eben and the Prälatenhaus in the Buchau district starts their shift at six o’clock. First, they rework the old track and then set a new one. “Our tracks are always perfectly groomed, and not just after a fresh snowfall,” explains Albert Eberharter, head of the building yard in Eben am Achensee.
His colleagues in Achenkirch do the same. Before the first snowfall, Hubert Rainer clears away the hard grass stalks left over by the cattle, so that cross-country ski tracks can be set even when there is little snow. In Steinberg, Thomas Auer works alone. The part-time farmer gets on the groomer as soon as he finishes his farm work in the morning and prepares almost 50 kilometres of tracks. He is also responsible for preparing the toboggan run and sometimes even the ski slope in Steinberg.
