Sleep seven more times, then finally the Christ Child comes – and with the start of the Christmas holidays, the high season also starts on the Styrian ski mountains. But the anticipation is often slowed down. “We are really looking forward to the season and can hardly wait to finally work with customers again, but of course the situation is anything but easy,” says Michael Tritscher.
The ex-slalom star not only runs an apartment hotel in Rohrmoos, but also one of the largest ski schools in the country. “Normally we have around 100 ski instructors in the main season – but currently only 65. It is becoming increasingly difficult to find people for seasonal work, and everyone in the region feels the same way.” Rules of the game ”for the Christmas holidays. The ninja pass for Austrian students is temporarily equated with a 2-G certificate. Twelve to 14-year-olds from abroad still need two PCR tests (in exceptional cases, antigen tests are also sufficient). In Schladming, however, there is only one test road – long waiting times are inevitable. School ski courses are currently not possible There are also many pupils who have been looking forward to their ski course on hold. Until January 14th, the Styrian educational institutions are still in risk level three, school events are therefore prohibited. “This also applies to ski courses,” says the education directorate. In a survey, 80 percent of schools said they wanted to hold ski courses this year – but that was before the lockdown and the first appearance of the Omikron variant.
source site-12