Kässbohrer brings Schneeprophet On Board:

Kässbohrer Geländefahrzeug AG, the world’s leading manufacturer of snow groomers under the PistenBully brand, is acquiring the Austrian company lumiosys GmbH, known as “Schneeprophet,” which provides AI-powered weather and snow depth forecasts for ski resorts. The merger combines the world’s leading solutions in the field of slope grooming with data-driven weather and snow depth forecasting.

Two worlds that belong together 
For decades, PistenBully has stood for precision, innovation, and reliability on the slopes. With lumiosys GmbH, Kässbohrer is now bringing on board a partner that addresses the very starting point of slope grooming:  determining when, where, and how much snow is actually needed. The Tyrolean spin-off from the University of Innsbruck brings over 20 years of snow research to the Kässbohrer family. Founded in 2022 by Florian Hanzer, Michael Warscher, and Ulrich Strasser, the company was most recently honored with the 2025 ECO Award from the “Foundation for Safety in Ski Sports” of the German Ski Association. Schneeprophet is already in use today in 18 alpine and cross-country ski areas in Austria, Italy, Switzerland, and Germany. 

“This acquisition combines the world’s leading solutions in slope grooming with forecasts for weather, snowmaking, and slope conditions. It thus creates an integrated foundation for forward-looking planning, efficient operations, and sustainable resource management. “This is an important strategic step toward intelligent, digital slope management characterized by transparency, predictability, and economic efficiency,” explains Christian Oberwinkler, CTO of Kässbohrer Geländefahrzeug AG. “With this AI-powered solution spanning the entire operational chain - from snowmaking and grooming to operations—we are closing a significant gap.” 

From Forecast to Grooming - Seamlessly Connected 
Schneeprophet processes volumes of data in real time from local measurements, meteorological models, and AI-supported downscaling methods, using them to calculate snow and slope conditions up to 15 days in advance - supplemented by forecasts for long-term planning through the end of the winter season. One of the solution’s highlights is the “snowmaking traffic light,” which shows at a glance when and where artificial snowmaking is truly worthwhile.  

In the future, this forecast data will be used in SnowSat, Kässbohrer’s comprehensive digital solution. This creates a seamless, digital management workflow - from weather and snow forecasting through snowmaking planning to actual slope grooming. For the first time, this allows ski resorts to optimize their use of resources across the entire process. 

Clear Added Value for Customers 
For mountain lift operators and ski resorts worldwide, the acquisition means one thing above all: greater clarity in key business decisions. By integrating with SnowSat, customers will benefit not only from new forecasting capabilities for weather and snow conditions but also from a shared data foundation for proactive planning of snowmaking, staffing, and slope grooming. This makes slope management more reliable, cost-effective, and sustainable. The result: energy savings of 10 to 15 percent per season, and in some snowmaking windows, even up to 30 percent. This contributes to achieving the ski resorts’ sustainability goals. 

“We developed Schneeprophet to provide mountain resorts with a reliable, data-driven basis for decision-making regarding snowmaking. With Kässbohrer, we can now consistently apply this principle across the entire process chain - from snowmaking and daily grooming to planning slope operations throughout 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. 

Together Toward the Future of Winter Tourism 
With the acquisition of lumiosys GmbH and its Schneeprophet software, Kässbohrer is sending a clear message: the future of slope management is digital, data- and model-based, and resource-efficient. The combination represents a forward-looking innovation in technology and software - building on what PistenBully has stood for for generations. 

Two pioneers, one common goal: the perfect and sustainable slope - today and in the future.