Sauerland winter sports arena

According to its own information, the Sauerland winter sports arena is the most important winter sports region north of the Alps. ^{P. 3} Topographically, it extends over the heights of the Rothaarkamm ridge. This includes ^{p. 21/22} 29 ski areas with 154 lifts (including mobile and temporary systems) and around 88 kilometers of slopes (around 52 kilometers of which are snow-covered).

topography

The Sauerland winter sports arena essentially extends over the greater Rothaargebirge area , which extends from the Siegen-Wittgenstein region in the south over the Sauerland to the Hessian Upland . The area with the Langenberg and the Hegekopf near Willingen (each 843 m) and the Kahler Asten (841 m) southwest of Winterberg has its highest elevations . 4 mountains in the ski areas exceed the 800 m mark. ^{P. 22} The main ridge of the low mountain range, also called Rothaarkamm, has its southernmost foothills near the villages of Hilchenbach and Kreuztal and extends for almost 100 km to Brilon in the north. Numerous rivers spring from the mountains in all directions. The best known of its kind are the Ruhr, which has its source near Winterberg and flows into the Rhine near Duisburg, the Lenne, which flows into the Ruhr after around 100 km near Hagen, and the Eder, which flows east and later reaches the Weser. The Rothaarkamm thus forms the watershed between the Weser and the Rhine, the largest rivers in West Germany.

Ticket network

Since the winter of 2005/2006, alpine ski areas have merged to form a ticket association. Until then, this offer was unique in the German low mountain range. The winter sports arena CARD makes it possible to visit the leading ski areas in the region with just one ticket

Willingen ski area
Winterberg ski lift carousel
Neuastenberg ski village

Altastenberg ski carousel

Sahnehang winter sports park

Snow World Züschen

Bödefeld Hunau

Ruhrquelle ski area

With

75 ski lifts (including 17 chair lifts and 1 cable car)
97 runs with a total length of 66 km (32 km easy / 28 km medium / 6 km difficult)
52 snow-covered runs with a total length of 42 km

Snowmaking

In order to be able to offer high-quality winter sports with an appropriate tourist infrastructure, snow reliability is one of the most important conditions. For this reason, the ski areas have installed powerful snow-making systems. In the core winter sports area (Skiliftkarussell Winterberg, Willingen skiing area, Postwiesenskiing area Neuastenberg, Snow-World-Züschen, Altastenberg skiing area, Bödefeld-Hunau skiing area, Langewiese skiing area, Sahnehang winter sports park) around 73% of the slopes were covered with snow in the 2012/2013 season. In the entire region at the time it was around 59% ^{p. 22} . The snow-covered ski areas can offer around 80 to sometimes more than 90 winter sports days per season. According to the Wintersport-Arena-Sauerland, there were 450 snowmakers in mid-2017, covering an area the size of 150 football fields.

In the case of ski slopes in FFH (Fauna-Flora-Habitat) areas, such as the “Postwiese” ski area in Winterberg, strict conditions must be observed when building snow-making systems. Since the snow is produced from spring water, it is necessary to obtain a permit under water law for the use of a body of water and, depending on the intervention in nature, the development of an accompanying landscape maintenance plan (LBP) or an impact assessment according to Art. 6 Habitats Directive in conjunction with § 19c BNatSchG .

climate

The Rothaargebirge lies in the temperate climate zone and is strongly influenced by the Atlantic with its westerly winds . The summers are cool overall, the winters are quite mild in the valleys and moderately cold in the summit regions. The temperature difference to the lowest locations in the adjacent Ruhr area and Rhineland is on average 5 ° C, but can be greater in certain weather conditions .

The precipitation , which mostly reaches the region from the west, adds up to around 1400 mm per year in the high altitudes and thus almost double what the Hessian lowlands , which are in the rain shadow of the mountains, receive with only 700-800 mm. In the winter months, the precipitation often falls as snow. The Kahle Asten has more than 100 days per year with a snow cover that was already more than 2 m high (winter 1969/70 with 239 cm).

Sports facilities and competitive sports

The Winterberg bobsleigh run , the Willinger Mühlenkopfschanze , the Winterberger St.-Georg-Schanze and the EWF-Biathlon-Arena belong to the winter sports arena Sauerland . Popular sport and competitive sport go hand in hand. Optimal training conditions on site are intended to encourage young winter sports talents. In bobsleigh, people like European champion René Spies and world champion Sandra Kiriasis have not only been publicizing their own achievements for years, but are also associated with the region. The region is also known for other events. The "BMW IBSF - World Cup Bobsleigh & Skeleton", world championships in bobsleigh and skeleton, luge world championships and the Viessmann luge world cup are held at the Veltins EisArena Winterberg in the area of the Sauerland winter sports arena. The World Cup ski jumping of the International Ski Federation (FIS) has been taking place on the Mühlenkopfschanze since 1995. The FIS Snowboard World Cup will take place for the sixth time in 2020 on Poppenberg “In der Büre”.

history

Initially to have a central project funding point, the winter sports arena Sauerland was brought into being. In 2001, tourism experts and lift operators initiated the master plan for the winter sports arena and merged to form the “sponsoring association for the winter sports arena Sauerland / Siegerland-Wittgenstein”, which was entered in the register of associations at the Arnsberg District Court (formerly Medebach District Court) in 2003. In the following years there was support from the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, the state of Hesse, the municipality of Willingen and the Siegen-Wittgenstein district.

The background was that winter sports tourism had declined due to the weather. The core of the expectations was an assumed number of 80 snow days per season. Snow-making systems should ensure snow is guaranteed. With the pilot project in the Postwiesen ski area Neuastenberg, the operators created the basis for further projects in winter 2002/2003. You have fulfilled the core requirement of the master plan and prove that with the help of technical support in the low mountain range, winter sports can be offered over 80 days during the season. With the proof of the profitability of snowmaking in the low mountain range, the way was clear for the first start-up financing for the construction of further snowmaking systems in the core area of the region defined according to the master plan 1.0. The objectives of the master plan were the general improvement of quality in winter sports, the increase in snow security, the joint, central and professional marketing of winter sports, the coordination and bundling of state funding options and the installation of a uniform ticket system.

A total of around 90 million euros were invested directly in the ski areas between 2001 and 2014, which resulted in further follow-up investments. As a result, not only the ski areas should benefit from the development, but indirectly also other tourist areas, trade, crafts and service providers.

In 2013, on behalf of the Wintersport-Arena Sauerland / Siegerland-Wittgenstein e. V. in the series of publications Nature Sports and Ecology (Volume 31) the concept study for the sustainable development of the Sauerland winter sports arena - Masterplan 2.0.