The ski season is now beginning in these low mountain ranges

A few lifts are already in operation, and skiers can really get going in the Sauerland at the weekend: around 50 lifts will then go into operation in the ski areas. A spokeswoman for the Wintersport Arena Sauerland said there hadn't been such an extensive offer since 2017 in mid-December. In view of the weather in recent weeks, the lift operators are optimistic about the first highlight of the season. The Christmas holidays also start next Friday.

According to the spokeswoman for the ski areas, the snow cover is only a good ten centimeters thick. However, the dry cold has made it possible to produce artificial snow effectively. "The system always needs the same amount of electricity, but more comes out when it's cold," she said. After two winters with restrictions due to the corona pandemic, the mild winter of 2019/2020 and the uncertain electricity price situation, the weather favorable for snow production is just right.

The first ski weekend of the season is also approaching in Hesse's winter sports areas. The largest ski area in the federal state in Willingen in northern Hesse (Waldeck-Frankenberg district) had already opened the lifts at Wilddieb, Ettelsberg, K1 and Sonnenhang for floodlit skiing on Wednesday evening. According to ski resort spokesman Jörg Wilke, this was the earliest start to the ski season in twelve years.

All lifts in Willingen have been in operation since Thursday. The starting gun was also fired on the Wasserkuppe (district of Fulda) on Wednesday. The Fairy Tale Meadow Lift ran in the ski area in the Rhön. More lifts will follow this Saturday.

The season started on Friday in Saxony's largest alpine ski area on the Fichtelberg. In particular, the frost of the past few nights had played into the hands of the operators of the Fichtelberg suspension railway. This made it possible to produce enough artificial snow. According to boss René Lötzsch, 70 snow cannons were in use. The first cross-country trails are also in operation.

Skiing started earlier in Augustusburg (Middle Saxony district) than in Oberwiesenthal. The slope has been open here since the middle of the week. The ski season in Altenberg in the Eastern Ore Mountains started on Thursday, as did the Eibenstock ski arena.

In Schöneck (Vogtland district), the opening of the ski world is imminent on Saturday. For the time being there is a downhill run with a tow lift and the toboggan run available for winter sports enthusiasts. From Monday (December 19) the four-seater chairlift on the 850-meter-long "Hohe Reuth" slope will open.

All three large ski areas in the Harz are open on the fourth weekend in Advent. "We have a lot of snow," said the operations manager of the Wurmberg cable car near Braunlage, Fabian Brockschmidt. Its ski area in Lower Saxony on the border with Saxony-Anhalt is the highest in the entire Harz region.

In Lower Saxony's largest ski area, a tow lift and a new conveyor belt on the Hexenritt are to open on Saturday. In addition, guests should be able to use the new snow tubing run – a toboggan run for large rubber rings – as well as classic tobogganing. The chairlift could be switched on before Christmas Eve. According to the operators, there is up to 30 centimeters of snow.

Actually, the start of the season at Wurmberg was not planned before December 25th. Because of the energy crisis, the operators were reluctant to start their snow cannons early for fear that the snow could melt away and production would be in vain. With temperatures down to minus 13 degrees in the Harz mountains and still frosty prospects with temperatures around the freezing point, the plan was changed. Revision work will continue to be carried out on the cable car. It opens on December 25th - then the entire ski area could be skiable.

A ski lift was already running in the Sonnenberg ski area in Sankt Andreasberg on the third weekend in Advent. On the fourth weekend in Advent, all systems are to go into operation. In the Bavarian Alps or the Thuringian Forest, too, many ski areas only open on the fourth weekend in Advent. The Zugspitze and Winterberg in Sauerland opened first at the beginning of December.

The respective ski and toboggan lifts also ran in Torfhaus and in the town of Braunlage. In addition, tobogganists got their money's worth in the ski area in Hohegeiss, which has been redesignated as a tobogganing centre. Various trails are now open for cross-country skiers. Some have already been groomed, for example in Sankt Andreasberg, Braunlage or Altenau.

The start of the ski season on the Feldberg in the Black Forest has been delayed again due to the weather. Contrary to previous announcements, several lifts at the Seebuck summit in the Black Forest cannot go into operation on Friday. This was reported by the Feldbergbahnen on Thursday evening in Todtnau (Lörrach district).

"Our piste team gave everything, but we were powerless against the persistent rain and the inversion weather conditions," said managing director Julian Probst. On Friday, therefore, only one drag lift will start, which is mainly used by children. When the rest of the operation will start should be decided at short notice - depending on the weather development in the next few days. A possible date was not mentioned.

Originally, the season in Germany's largest ski area north of the Alps was supposed to start at the beginning of December. However, the start date has already been postponed twice due to a lack of snow

Around 2,000 season tickets were sold for this year's ski season, a spokeswoman said. Probst was confident that skiers would accept the railways' new fare system.

Customers have to be prepared for rising prices: the minimum price for a standard day ticket is 39 euros – but it gets more expensive when the ski weather is good, on Sundays and public holidays and during the holidays. The railways had not committed themselves to an upper price limit. The day ticket had cost 43 euros in the previous season.