Austrian ski federation pushes for year-round indoor skiing

Austria’s Ski Federation (ÖSV) is pushing for an indoor ski hall in the country, saying it could make skiing accessible year-round and help develop young athletes, ORF reported. Federation president Roswitha Stadlober said a working group would be set up to advance the idea.

Stadlober said young athletes at sports-focused schools spend up to 30 days each summer training in indoor ski halls in Lithuania, Wittenburg near Hamburg and the Netherlands. Marcel Hirscher has also recently trained in halls in the Netherlands and Germany as he works towards a comeback.

The proposal has received mostly positive feedback, Stadlober said. She plans to work with Tourism State Secretary Elisabeth Zehetner, Austrian Economic Chamber president Martha Schultz and other experts. No detailed plan has yet been drawn up, but new ÖSV secretary general Jan Überall said the project required ambitious thinking.

The federation wants a hall that serves both competitive and recreational skiers. Vienna is being discussed as a possible location. ÖSV sports director Mario Stecher called the idea a potential “gamechanger” because it could bring skiing within reach throughout the year.

Atomic racing director Christian Höflehner said an indoor hall need not conflict with environmental goals if designed carefully. He also said getting young people onto skis was becoming harder as their first contact with snow grew more difficult.

Indoor facilities offer controlled conditions and short distances between training and recovery spaces, racer Manuel Feller said. But they cannot accommodate speed events such as downhill and Super-G. Teams will also still need summer trips to South America because indoor halls do not have winter snow, and Feller said training there would not help with race equipment set-up. Slalom skier Marco Schwarz said indoor preparation was already common among some athletes and teams, while noting that skiing in a hall does not feel like being on a mountain.