"Slope rider - my boyhood dream."

Even as a young boy, Beat Gattlen dreamed of one day becoming a piste skier. His dream came true. For 30 winters now, the Bürchner native has been grooming the slopes of the Moosalpregion with a lot of feeling for the machine.

4:37 p.m. One last skier in a black and orange outfit is making his turns on the slope. It is the run of the piste controller. "Moosa32, the piste is clear..." comes a murmur from Beat's radio. For him, the sign that he can start the engine of his snow groomer. Just under 400 horsepower begins to vibrate. 30 kilometers of piste want to be prepared during this cold winter night.

Fascinated by the power

Batsch", as he is affectionately called by his colleagues, felt the passion for skiing as a young boy. "Watching the heavy machines drive up the mountain to Moosalp in the evening after the slopes closed has always fascinated me," he recalls. It's the power of the machines that did it for Beat. During the summer months, Batsch works in construction. There, too, he is surrounded by powerful machines. Fortunately, more than 30 years ago, Beat was invited by a work colleague to take a ride in a snow groomer up to Moosalp. Because Beat remembers: "That's when it happened for me!"

This night Beat is responsible for the steep Danihang. The winch pulls the snow groomer, which weighs tons, up with ease. But gravity pushes Batsch into his comfortable chair. It wasn't always this comfortable, Gattlen recalls. Groomers have evolved tremendously over the past 30 years. "My first Ratrack only had a rigid tiller in the back and not even a blade in the front for plowing. If the slope was too steep for the Ratrack, you were only ever allowed to drive down with the machine and drive back up on a draw piece next to it." Today, the winch secures the snow groomer in such a way that Batsch can drive directly up and down without detours.

The moment Beat drives the vehicle over the edge at the top of the Danihang is his personal highlight night after night. "Look at this panorama. Fantastic," raves the veteran. The view opens up over the Rhone Valley or to the Mischabel Group. "These moments at sunrise or sunset are my privilege."

My focus: The slope

Radio Rottu sounds from the loudspeakers. Request concert. Batsch does not hear that he has just been greeted by a guest from the Moosalp region. "En Grüess geit ani Pischtufahrer va der Moosalp, iär mächet das super," the presenter quotes the greeting. Gattlen does not react. Because he does not hear the greeting from the radio. "While I'm preparing the slopes, I'm fully concentrated on my work." Anyone who is allowed to ride in his cabin senses how Beat is a piste groomer with heart and soul and a certain amount of ambition. "I prefer to be on the road an hour longer so that winter sports enthusiasts can find perfectly groomed slopes." Addressed to the greeting in the wish concert, Batsch says that every praise gives him "Watz" and confirms his good work on the slopes. "Any praise is good for you." But more important to him, he says, is that skiers in the Moosalpregion can experience a perfect winter experience."

For Beat Gattlen, good piste preparation already starts in summer: "You're not just a piste skier in winter. I walk the slopes of the Moosalpregion every summer." Beat wants to know what the condition of the ground is like. Where does it have stones, bushes, boulders? "I know every square meter on the slope". If there is enough snow in winter, it is no art to prepare a good slope. But when there is a lack of snow, it helps the Bürchner enormously that he knows the track like the back of his hand. And even in poor visibility, in fog or in heavy snowfall, Beat never loses his bearings.

The heart beats in Telli

Batsch also benefits from this experience this night. After preparing the steep Dani slope like a soft carpet, he drives his snow groomer in the direction of Törbel-Telli. 80 meters behind him, his colleague follows with a second machine. An avalanche has buried the traverse several meters deep. The task now is to clear the slope. "Here we switch on our Barryvox for safety," says Gattlen. "After an avalanche blast, my heart beats a few beats faster on this stretch," admits Batsch. Why? "After blasting, you never know for sure if snow might still slide in." That night, the snow remains stable. But for safety reasons, this section is always skied in pairs after an avalanche blast.

And on we go! The weather forecast is right. Nevertheless, the two piste skiers need several hours until the 30 kilometers of slopes in the Moosalpregion are prepared. In case of high precipitation or soft slopes, it takes longer to prepare them. In any case, it is better to groom in the evening. This is because in order for the slope to be ready for the entire next day, it needs at least 8 hours to cure. The shorter the curing time, the softer the slopes will be the next day and the faster hills will form. Only in case of snowfall do the snow groomers stay in the garage the night before. In this case, Beat's alarm clock rings in the middle of the night. Getting up is no problem for the longtime piste skier: "The passion for preparing high-quality slopes gets me out of bed without any effort."

Today it will be midnight before Beat parks his machine in the garage. "So, that's it," says the satisfied piste skier. He is not the only one who is "happy"... Because winter sports enthusiasts can also look forward to top-prepared slopes in the Moosalpregion. "Made by Batsch"!