Zauchensee is a place in the

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Altenmarkt im Pongau Altenmarkt im Pongau is a small town in the Austrian state of Salzburg. Geography Altenmarkt is situated 65 km southeast of Salzburg. Economy The town is principally known for its winter tourism. It is also the location of the factory manufactur ...

, located in the state of Salzburg. Zauchensee is known for its

ski resort A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area–a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In North Am ...

and as a venue for the

Alpine Ski World Cup The FIS Alpine Ski World Cup is the top international circuit of alpine skiing competitions, launched in 1966 by a group of ski racing friends and experts which included French journalist Serge Lang and the alpine ski team directors from France ...

Location

Zauchensee, named after the lake of the same name, is the southernmost part of the municipality of Altenmarkt. It is the heart of the ski resort with hotels and

ski lift A ski lift is a mechanism for transporting skiers up a hill. Ski lifts are typically a Lift ticket, paid service at ski resorts. The first ski lift was built in 1908 by German Robert Winterhalder in Schollach/Eisenbach, Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald, ...

s. The area is located between 1,339 (lake level) and 2,344 (Steinfeldspitze) metres above sea level.

History

The ski resort was first developed in the 1960s. The lift company was founded in 1964 and the first

T-bar T-bar may refer to: * T with bar (Ŧ, ŧ) * T-bar lift A surface lift is a type of cable transport for mountain sports in which skiers, snowboarders, or mountain bikers remain on the ground as they are pulled uphill. While they were once pre ...

began operating in winter 1964/65. The ski resort was then further developed, as were transportation links between Altenmarkt and Zauchensee. The lift company was merged with the one in Radstadt-Altenmarkt in 1989. In 2006, the Seekarsee lake was first used as a reservoir for

snowmaking Snowmaking is the production of snow by forcing water and pressurized air through a "snow gun", also known as a "snow cannon". Snowmaking is mainly used at ski resorts to supplement natural snow. This allows ski resorts to improve the reliabilit ...

for the ski slopes.

Sports

The Zauchensee-Flachauwinkel-Kleinarl ski resort has 25 lifts and over 70 kilometres of ski slopes for recreational and professional sports.

Professional sport

* Ski World Cup: several World Cup competitions, the first in 1980 with downhill skiing and super-G slalom. Others in 1980, 1988, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2004, 2009, 2011, 2014, 2016 and 2017. The 2002 men's and the 2007 women's World Cup finals were held in Zauchensee. From 2020, the Ski World Cup will be held in Zauchensee every two years, alternating with

St Anton am Arlberg Sankt Anton am Arlberg, commonly referred to as St Anton, is a village and ski resort in the Austrian state of Tyrol. It lies in the Tyrolean Alps, with aerial tramways and chairlifts up to , yielding a vertical drop of . It is also a popular ...

. * Freestyle: 1993 World Cup * FIS competitions * Europacup In the 1980s, downhill event competitions were held on Gamskogel-Ost, and the slope has run from the Gamskogel through the Kälberloch since 1990. The first men's competition started at the peak of the Gamskogel in 2002, and the women's started from the very top in 2007. The Kälberloch section is one of the most difficult stretches in the women's World Cup. Prominent victors include

Vreni Schneider Verena "Vreni" Schneider (born 26 November 1964) is a retired ski racer from Switzerland. She is the most successful alpine ski racer of her country, the fourth most successful female ski racer ever (after Lindsey Vonn, Annemarie Moser-Pröll a ...

Petra Kronberger Petra Kronberger (born 21 February 1969) is an Austrian former alpine skier, who participated in all disciplines. She was the first female alpine skier to win in all five World Cup events. Career Kronberger entered the World Cup circuit in th ...

Renate Götschl Renate Götschl (born 6 August 1975) is an Austrian former alpine ski racer. She is a two-time individual World Champion in the combined (1997) and downhill (1999), and has won a total of 9 World Championships medals. She also won two Olympi ...

Michaela Dorfmeister Michaela Dorfmeister (born 25 March 1973) is an Austrian former alpine skiing, alpine ski racer who competed in the Olympic Games and FIS Alpine Ski World Cup, World Cup. Her specialities were both the downhill and the super-G disciplines, althou ...

Julia Mancuso Marie Mancuso (born March 9, 1984) is an American retired World Cup alpine ski racer, Olympic gold medalist and podcast host. She won the giant slalom at the 2006 Winter Olympics, and was the silver medalist in both downhill and combined i ...

Lindsey Vonn Lindsey Caroline Vonn ( ; born October 18, 1984) is an American FIS Alpine Ski World Cup, World Cup Alpine skiing, alpine ski racer. She won four World Cup overall championships – third amongst female skiers to Annemarie Moser-Pröll and Mika ...

Anja Pärson Anja Sofia Tess Pärson (; born 25 April 1981) is a Swedish former alpine skier. She is an Olympic gold medalist, seven-time gold medalist at the World Championships, and two-time overall Alpine Skiing World Cup champion. This included winn ...

and

Sofia Goggia Sofia Goggia (; born 15 November 1992) is an Italian FIS Alpine Ski World Cup, World Cup Alpine skiing, alpine ski racer who competes in all disciplines and specialises in the speed events of downhill (ski competition), downhill and super-G. Sh ...

. With the Kids’ Trophy, the resort is also the venue for the largest children's competition in Europe.

Recreational sport

For recreational sports, the ski resort offers slopes for children and beginners, as well as for advanced skiers and freestylers. In summer, the resort is also suitable for hikers. The Gamskogelbahn I gondola is also open in summer and takes guests to the Gamskogel hut and the ‘Weltcup der Tiere’ adventure play area.

References

{{Authority control Cities and towns in St. Johann im Pongau District Salzburg Slate Alps Radstadt Tauern