The Dachstein (2994m), the highest mountain in Styria, which of course also features in the national anthem, and its Styrian valley resorts of Ramsau and Schladming are known far beyond the country's borders. The Tauplitz can not only proudly claim to be one of the most traditional, larger ski resorts in Austria, but also enjoys a certain degree of fame outside of Austria.
But then the non-tourist fog begins to envelop the land and the mountains and, at least from a distance, it seems to be a "ski desert". This is not quite the case. On the contrary, Styria is a cradle of alpine skiing - at least in the Austrian Alps. Towards the end of the 19th century, it was two Styrians, the Graz factory director Max Kleinoschegg and the hotelier Toni Schruf from Mürzzuschlag, who climbed a "real" alpine mountain, the Stuhleck at 1782 metres, on skis for the first time in 1892. Consequently, Austria's first "sophisticated" ski centre developed in the immediate vicinity, the resort town of Semmering, which in the early 20th century attracted the rich and famous of the Austro-Hungarian Empire to Austria in winter. Monarchs also travelled to the mountains in winter.
It was only natural that skiing in Styria quickly spread from this centre of innovation to other mountain ranges. Even high alpine, at first glance forbidding mountain massifs such as the Hochschwab (2277m) soon became popular destinations for early ski mountaineers. The good transport connections of the main Styrian valleys with their urban centres, which had early railway connections due to their industrialisation, were the natural hot spots of this development.
But this time we want to say goodbye to the eastern edge of the Alps and turn our attention to the "real" mountain groups in the Central Alps. The two ancient towns of Rottenmann (681m) and Trieben (708m) are located in the so-called Palten-Liesing valley, which are only about 15 kilometres apart but each have their own ski touring areas in their hinterland.
