A Hidden Gem at Halde

Jan 2021 – This is a knee-jerk posting about a place that we, as a family, likely never would have gone in a non-COVID winter. I’ll keep it short and sweet…very fitting for the place we went.

We continue to try and “beat” COVID by being on the snow in any way we can. Most of this winter has consisted of epic sledding and bunny slope runs on hills around our home. Just two weeks ago, I heard that some smaller lift areas in the Schwäbische Alb were beginning to rent their lifts. After checking around, I thankfully discovered this to be true.

Our awesome neighbor told me about a lift she had seen in operation not even an hour from our home. This information led me to visit Skilift Halde’s website. Since my only real snow time this winter had been without family, I was really excited to see my kids put their skis back on.

What you should know (this may have changed sine COVID lockdowns have now ended):

Halde is located not hardly 50 minutes southeast of Stuttgart in Westerheim.
They will happily rent a T-Bar lift to you on an hourly basis at 150.00 Euros per hour.
To abide by all Baden-Württemberg COVID policies, only a single household/family plus an additional Adult from outside the house can attend.
It is a very small slope but it is a pretty good spot considering its location and ease of learning for children. Only T-Bars exist here…so if your kids aren’t able to use them yet, keep that in your back pocket.
The Germans that run this lift area are some of the kindest and most genuine people I have come across in three years, here in Germany. It is a family-run operation.
No food or drink is sold here so pack accordingly. There is a toilet facility open for those on the slope.

If you want to book, you probably have to give them a call. The owners will happily send you a SMS or email once you have called. This is to obtain all information for those who will be on the lift (name, address, phone #). I’m not sure if speaking English will work since I went straight into German and didn’t bother asking.

*Shadowing the little girl as she enjoys a normal day for once.*

The run is very small as is the area in general, but it’s a short drive away and, even better, provided us with invaluable family snow time that we depend on year-in year-out.

This is a very simple and pointed post: give Halde a visit. They are wonderful people and I’m sure their business is suffering at the hands of the German government, right now. Go support them by having a normal-feeling day during these bizarre times.