Skiing in the city of Vienna

Every year in Austria, the winter comes with a lot of snow, and along with it, with a new ski season. Although Vienna is the capital of an Alpine country, in the city directly you don’t have big mountains and long ski slopes. However, there are still two ski slopes namely Dollwiese and Hohe-Wand-Wiese, where you can enjoy skiing that is suited for kids and beginners.

Dollwiese – kids’ paradise

Dollwiese has only one 120 m long slope, and you cannot really ski a world cup here. However, for kids and beginners, it will do the job. Because of the low gradient of 40 m, it is classified as a blue run. Dollwiese facilities include so-called magic carpet, e.g. conveyor belt that takes the skiers or snowboarders to the top. Its use is free of charge. The slope is only open when there is enough natural snow. The Dollwiese slope is located in the Vienna’s 13th district, and it is easily accessible with buses number 54B and 55B.

Hohe-Wand-Wiese – skiing even in the summer

Hohe-Wand-Wiese is located in Vienna’s district of Penzing. The area has 400-meter-long ski run that was an international spotlight several times in the past. Even a World Cup in slalom was held there in January 1986. Also, the first parallel slalom in the history of ski sports was held here in 1967. For the big ski events, such as the World Cup, the necessary snow came from the snow cannon on site, and additional quantities were produced in a climate chamber of the Vienna Arsenal and transported by truck. Hohe-Wand-Wiese is equipped with ski lift, baby lift and system for making artificial snow. With its maximum gradient of 25%, it is classified as a blue slope. Sadly, after 50 years of operations, since the winter season 2016/2017, the ski lift is closed, and it is not known when and if it will be open again. According to the new tenant, the winter use of the entire slope is no longer economically justifiable.

Today, the ski facility includes a 40 m long conveyor belt in the lower area of the slope. It is used for the ski schools mostly. The advantage of this area is that it is equipped with the high-tech plastic slip mats or dry-slopes on approximately 1,500 square meters. This makes the area independent from the weather conditions, so that beginners can make their first skiing attempts even without snow. There is also a separate area for bobsledding. Hohe-Wand-Wiese can be reached with a public bus number 450.

If these two slopes are not enough for you, just one or two hours drive from Vienna, you can find a lot of ski areas suited for experienced skiers as well. The advantage of Dollwiese and Hohe-Wand-Wiese is that they offer the fun of skiing within the city.