Grüntenlifte

What praise there is applies to the mountain, not the resort: the Grünten is still an Allgäu landmark with wide views, and since the lifts stopped it has become a ski touring and snowshoeing destination - you climb on skins and ski your own line down. Locals remember it as classic village skiing that ran for more than sixty years.

The criticism is fundamental: there is no lift-served skiing here any more. The lifts stopped running in the late 2010s, operations having become unprofitable through poor snow and weak demand. The plan to replace them with a modern gondola and two new lifts collapsed after years of negotiation: no agreement was reached with the owner of land crossed by the chairlift line, while conservation groups and a local initiative opposed the rise in day-tripper traffic. The investor walked away, and anyone turning up expecting a working resort will find nothing to ski.