More and more young people are growing up in families with no connection to winter sports – and this no longer only affects children with a migration background. To specifically counteract this trend, the Winter Network has launched an innovative support program.
The program has been successfully implemented for several years and enjoys great popularity. Each year, it successfully introduces more than 1,000 Salzburg students with no prior skiing experience to the sport. Thanks to the financial support of strong partners – including Doppelmayr, UNIQA, SKIDATA, Raiffeisen Salzburg, the SuperSkiCard pool, and the Austrian ski industry – as well as the Salzburg Tourism Promotion Fund, chaired by Deputy Governor Stefan Schnöll, the program has now been extended to include students from Vienna, Lower Austria, and Burgenland.
Last winter, a total of 13,688 students from these Austrian states spent their winter sports weeks in SalzburgerLand. Among them were 3,569 beginners who were able to use the slopes with their classmates after just three days. This remarkable success is primarily due to the commitment of the Salzburg ski schools: 222 schools received professional instruction and support from a total of 424 ski instructors.
This successful initiative is a sustainable and effective investment in young skiers and the future of winter sports in Austria.