KARL UNTERSTEINER

62, farmer and ski lift operator in Meransen

replies. “I shouldn’t say this too loudly, but what I do here doesn’t really feel like work. It’s more like going on holiday every day – right on my doorstep,” he continues, pointing towards his farm immediately opposite the lift’s mountain station. Here he has a stable with seven cows, a few calves, rabbits and all the usual farm equipment. There’s also his old tomcat, Klaus, who sometimes pays him a visit at the lift, where he loves to lap up the children’s attention.

The Pobist lift is ideally located for visitors staying in the village. “The slope is accessible on foot and is fantastic for new skiers because it’s not all that steep and has easy traverses. That makes it perfect for practising basic turns and ways of climbing uphill on your skis,” Karl explains. The lift was built in 1969, and Karl still remembers how his father lugged baskets full of snow from the shady forest to help create the drag lift track. In those days, there was no road connection between the mountain village of Meransen and the village of Mühlbach/Rio di Pusteria down in the valley. The only form of transportation was the cable car built in 1956 which was primarily used to transport cows and wood. “At that time, it was completely normal to walk from Meransen to Mühlbach,” says Karl. He then goes on to tell us how he himself learnt to ski. “It was here on our slope, of course. But all I had were normal shoes, woollen stockings and a pair of bent boards fastened to my feet with a flap and a band,” he recalls, grinning as he greets the next ski group.