Green light for Snowboard World Cup Winterberg

Eight ski lifts and partly good conditions in the Sauerland winter sports arena

Frosty night temperatures, friendly days, but no real winter comeback: the conditions at the eight lifts currently open are stable and quite good. Green light for the Snowboard World Cup on 9 and 10 March. 

Freezing temperatures - good atmosphere

The coldest nights of the current February: A report that normally brings a broad smile to the faces of all winter sports fans currently has a different meaning. After a long time, the thermometer on the mountains has finally dropped a few degrees below zero again. This improves the conditions on the pistes that are currently open. However, the few frosty hours are not helping to create a wider range of offers.

For the Snowboard World Cup, however, the slightly sub-zero temperatures are a ray of hope. The piste on the Poppenberg in the Winterberg ski lift carousel has enough snow and the frost provides the necessary firmness and robustness. If the weather services are right, light frost will return after a slightly milder first weekend in March. Together with professional piste grooming by the World Cup experts, this will provide the right basis for fast races.

Important to know for visitors: Only the race piste on the Poppenberg is closed for training and competitions. The other ski slopes are open to guests.

The currently measured warmest February since weather records began tops the previous mildest in 1990. The winter of 2023/2024 itself did not set any records, but is one of the five mildest recorded by the weather services. This was based on large fluctuations in some cases, meaning that the average temperature can hardly give any indication of its significance for winter sports. Two distinct snowmaking windows, one at the beginning of December and one in mid-January, are used by the lift operators to produce snow. Thanks to this efficiency, they were able to create snow reserves that survived long mild phases, but in many cases did not last into March.

Skiing in the Easter holidays not completely out of the question

Although a late winter relapse is not currently in sight, it is within the realms of possibility. Weather records show that a real "March winter" is anything but a rarity in the region. On the other hand, there are no signs of a stable spring high either. Friendly days alternate with many frosty nights, especially in the valleys.

Even if an expansion of the current range of pistes is not very likely, the lift operators now want to get the Snowboard World Cup successfully behind them first and then evaluate the current weather forecasts. If things go well, a few lifts could be running at the start of the NRW Easter holidays in mid-March.