The largest ski resorts, Bad Kleinkirchheim and Nassfeld, occupy an honorable place in Austrian winter tourism on a par with the popular resorts of Salzburgerland and Tyrol. Getting to the most important ski centers of Carinthia is very simple: the road to Nassfeld via the A10 Tauern Autobahn from Salzburg Airport takes no more than 2 hours - literally at hand.
Unlike Bad Kleinkirchheim, the Nassfeld ski resort is not a settlement - it is just a point on a mountain pass 1552 m high (Nassfeldpass) surrounded by the peaks of Gartnerkofel (2195 m), Rosskofel (2239 m) and Trogkofel (2280 m). Despite not very high altitudes, there has been a lot of snow here, on the border of Austria and Italy, in the last couple of years.
For example, from January 31 to February 2, 2014, 155 cm of snow fell on the slopes of Nassfeld, and the total depth of the snow cover was more than 2 meters.
The Nassfeld ski area has a total of 110 km of tracks, as well as several slopes for freeriding, located on an area of 113 hectares. Most of the tracks are of medium difficulty - they account for 63% of the total number of runs. For beginner tracks a little - 27% and 10% - difficult. The longest track is 8 km long.
In addition to the prepared slopes and Freeride Area zones, for the services of free-lovers in Nassfeld there are 2 snowparks and a fan-cross-country track equipped for skiing. In addition, at the lower station of the Millennium Express cableway, you can rent a snow tubing, bike Bob, snow skate, snow scooter, sled, snow trick, ski fox, bike board and other equipment for fun on snow slopes.
Not so long ago, the Nassfeld-Hermagor region fell into the Guinness Book of Records, having hosted amateur skiing competitions along the longest route with a length of 25.6 km. The competition is called Schlag das Ass (inger) and was originally organized by Armin Assinger, a former skier of the Austrian national team, a 4-time winner of the World Cup, and is now the famous TV presenter of the Austrian version of the TV show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?”.
The number of participants who took part in these races is on average about 800 people. The meaning of the race is to beat the result of Assinger, the main prize is the BMW X1.
The prize, of course, is wonderful, although an ordinary amateur is unlikely to improve the time of a professional, even if the former.
This winter, beat the Assinger will be held for the 6th time and will be held January 17, 2015. If you suddenly find yourself in Nassfeld at this time - do not miss this curious sight, or take part in it yourself. The competition will end with an exciting aerial show of the world champion Red Bull Flight Show Hannes Arch.