Lower Austria mountain lifts set summer visitor record
Sunday 20th September 2026 on 09:15 in
Austria
Lower Austria’s five mountain lift operators recorded a summer visitor record, ORF reports. The state-owned ecoplus Alpin GmbH said the season, which began as early as March at some locations and runs until early November, has been its most successful since the introduction of year-round operations.
Good weather during the summer months helped boost visitor numbers. Managing director Markus Redl said guests also valued the cooler temperatures in the mountains during periods of hot weather. The company expects visitor numbers over the full summer half-year to rise by a double-digit percentage.
The five locations recorded 153,000 visitors during the summer holidays, 31 percent more than in the previous strong year, according to Lower Austria Governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner. More than 230,000 visitors have been counted during the season so far.
Operations continue into autumn
The Annaberg lifts, the lift to Erlebnisalm Mönichkirchen, the Hochkar mountain lifts and the Ötscher lifts in Lackenhof will operate in good weather until 24 October on weekends, public holidays and during the autumn holidays.
The Wexl Arena St. Corona am Wechsel will be open daily until 27 September and from 23 October to 1 November. From 2 to 18 October, it will operate from Friday to Sunday. It will also run on the first two weekends of November.
Since the Annaberg lifts introduced summer operations in 2020, all five locations have offered year-round service.
Other mountain lifts in Lower Austria will also remain open into the autumn. The Gemeindealpe Mitterbach lift will operate on weekends and during the autumn holidays. The Muckenkogel chairlift, one of Austria’s last single-seat chairlifts, will run from Wednesday to Sunday until 18 October and on weekends until 2 November.
The Schneebergbahn will operate daily until 1 November, then from Thursday to Sunday until 15 November. The Schneeberg chairlift will run from Friday to Sunday until 2 November. The Semmering Hirschenkogel lift will operate from Thursday to Sunday and daily again during the autumn holidays. The Rax cable car will run daily until 15 November.