The most beautiful ski areas

There are 2,131 ski areas with 26,529 lift systems worldwide. ¹

9.3 m of snow falls annually in "Damüls", the world’s snowiest village. ²

A black piste must have an incline of more than 40%. ³

The speed record on skies lies at 255 kph and has been achieved by Ivan Origone on 6 March 2016. ⁴

With around 35,000 trained ski instructors, the German Ski Association holds the largest body of ski instructors worldwide. ⁵

There are approx. 6,900,000 winter sports fans in the UK, and approx. 450,000 in Ireland – that’s around 10% of the population for each country!

A typical 100 x 100 x 100 m large snow cloud weighs anywhere from 1,000 to 10,000 kg. That’s equivalent to about two very full-bodied elephants. ⁶

The world’s most expensive skis from Lacroix cost EUR 50,000, and there are only 10 in existence. ⁷

25% of all ski and snowboard accidents occur after midday, around 14:30. ⁸

In Switzerland, 49% of the pistes’ surfaces are artificially snowed over. In Austra, it’s 60%. ⁹

Champagne powder is ideal for skiing as it’s quite soft and dry. ¹⁰

The word "ski" is derived from the Norwegian word "skíð", which means "divided piece of wood". ¹¹

26% of winter sports fans rent their skiing, snowboarding, and snowblading equipment while 46% use their own. ¹²

There are over 125,000,000 winter sports fans worldwide. ¹³

The longest half-pipe in the world, the Superpipe, is located in the Laax ski area. It has a length of 200 m, a width of 22 m and a height of 6.90 m. ¹⁴