Winter sports action in the Harz: Lifts open thanks to fresh snow!

On January 11, 2025, numerous winter athletes used the open lifts in the Harz after the recent snowfalls. Popular parking spaces, such as on the witch ride and on the Wurmberg cable car in Braunlage, were heavily frequented, while the parking lot in Torfhaus was fully utilized. Due to strong winds, the Wurmberg cable car could not be put into operation at speeds of about 100 km/h.

Winter athletes transported the SkiBus from the Wurmberg cable car parking lot to the Hexenritt ski area, where two lifts and five slopes were open. At the Wurmberg, the snow height was around 30 cm, including at least 10 cm of fresh snow, which had fallen since Thursday. In Torfhaus, the toboggan lift and the ski lift were in operation, whereby the snow height was about 25 cm there. The toboggan lift is open every day, but the ski lift is only on weekends.

winter sports in the Harz

on the Bocksberg in Goslar Hahnenklee, the snow height had also risen to around 25 cm, and both the chairlift and the gondola lift were in operation. However, the snow conditions on the Bocksberg were suboptimal, since it was not possible to snow due to warm temperatures. In the Matthias-Schmidt-Berg ski area in Sankt Andreasberg, a drag lift and a double-line railway were available, with three slopes being desired. The steep slopes in Sankt Andreasberg remained closed due to inadequate snow.

In the Sonnenberg ski area in Sankt Andreasberg, two lifts were open. It is remarkable that the snow in the Harz fell for the first time at the end of November, but most lifts were not in operation due to inadequate snow or thaw. According to weather forecasts, temperatures up to minus 7 degrees as well as changing clouds and values between 0 and minus 1 degrees can be expected on Sunday night. In the night of Monday, it should even cool down to about minus 9 degrees, while the Monday initially begins foggy and then sun shows by minus 2 degrees.

In addition, the ski area "Auf der Rose" in Altenau opened its toboggan run and the lift on Saturday. In Braunlage, the Wurmberg cable car and a natural toboggan run are in operation from the middle to the valley station. The toboggan arena witch ride and the drag lift on the witch ride also offer access to three open slopes. From January 11th, the winter toboggan run and the chair lift (only for skiing and snowboard drivers) will be in operation on the Bocksberg. The cabin railway is available to pedestrians as well as rodlers, ski and snowboard drivers.

In Hohegeiß, the tobogganing center "Am Brand" and the "Hasen Valley" tobogganing center were opened, whereby the latter must initially do without toboggan lift. Sankt Andreasberg also offers opportunities for winter sports on Saturday and Sunday at Matthias-Schmidt-Berg and Sonnenberg. The toboggan runs are open in Schierke on the Brocken, and the trails are expected to be groomed from Saturday. The Alpinum ski in Schulenberg is also open at the weekend, and in Torfhaus both the toboggan run and the toboggan lift are in operation, while the ski lift is expected to open at the weekend. The ski lift is also ready for operation in Wernigerode, in the twelve morning valley.