Kässbohrer Acquires "Schneeprophet"

Kässbohrer Geländefahrzeug AG, the world's leading manufacturer of snow groomers under the PistenBully brand, is acquiring the Austrian company lumiosys GmbH and its AI-driven weather and snow-depth forecasting service for ski resorts, "Schneeprophet." This merger combines world-leading slope grooming solutions with data-based weather and snow forecasting.

Two worlds that belong together

For decades, PistenBully has stood for precision, innovation, and reliability on the slopes. By bringing lumiosys GmbH into the fold, Kässbohrer gains a partner that addresses the very starting point of slope grooming: determining when, where, and how much snow is actually needed. This Tyrolean spin-off from the University of Innsbruck contributes over 20 years of snow research expertise to the Kässbohrer family. Founded in 2022 by Florian Hanzer, Michael Warscher, and Ulrich Strasser, the company was recently honored with the ECO Award 2025 by the German Ski Association’s "Safety in Skiing" Foundation (*Stiftung Sicherheit im Skisport*). Schneeprophet is already in use at 18 ski and cross-country skiing areas across Austria, Italy, Switzerland, and Germany. 

"The merger combines the world's leading slope grooming solutions with forecasting capabilities for weather, snowmaking, and slope conditions. It creates an integrated foundation for proactive planning, efficient operations, and sustainable resource use. This is a key strategic step toward intelligent, digital slope management characterized by transparency, predictability, and economic optimization," explains Christian Oberwinkler, CTO of Kässbohrer Geländefahrzeug AG. "With this AI-powered solution covering the entire operational chain—from snowmaking and grooming to daily operations—we are closing a critical gap."

From forecasting to grooming – seamlessly connected

Schneeprophet processes vast streams of real-time data—including local measurements, meteorological models, and AI-driven downscaling techniques—to calculate snow and slope conditions up to 15 days in advance, while also providing forecasts for long-term planning through the end of the winter season. A standout feature of the solution is the "snowmaking traffic light," which indicates at a glance when and where artificial snowmaking is truly worthwhile.

In the future, this forecast data will be integrated into SnowSat, Kässbohrer’s comprehensive digital solution. This creates a seamless digital management workflow spanning everything from weather and snow forecasting and snowmaking planning to the actual grooming of the slopes. For the first time, this enables ski resorts to optimize their resources across the entire process.

Clear added value for the customer

For ski resorts worldwide, the acquisition means one thing above all: greater clarity regarding key business decisions. Thanks to the integration with SnowSat, customers will benefit not only from new forecasting capabilities for weather and snow conditions but also from a unified data foundation for the proactive planning of snowmaking, staffing, and slope grooming operations. This makes slope management more reliable, cost-effective, and sustainable. The result: energy savings of 10 to 15 percent per season—and up to 30 percent during specific snowmaking windows. It is a contribution toward achieving the ski resorts' sustainability goals.

"We developed Schneeprophet to provide lift operators with a reliable, data-driven basis for making snowmaking decisions. Together with Kässbohrer, we can now consistently apply this principle across the entire process chain—from snowmaking and daily grooming to slope operation planning for the entire winter season. Ultimately, this benefits not only the operators but also the guests," says Ulrich Strasser, co-founder and consultant at lumiosys GmbH.

Heading into the future of winter tourism together

By acquiring lumiosys GmbH and its Schneeprophet software, Kässbohrer is sending a clear signal: the future of slope management is digital, data- and model-driven, and resource-efficient—representing a visionary innovation in technology and software. This is what PistenBully has stood for for generations. Two pioneers, one shared goal: the perfect, sustainable slope—today and in the future.

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