Bass Mountain.
Two mountains. One idea.
Alex Bau on the move to Werfenweng, trust before the line-up, and finding the right sound for the time of day.
In conversation with Alex Bau · Bass Mountain
House on a sunny terrace, drum & bass outside a snow-groomer garage: at Bass Mountain, the setting is part of the musical idea. The team takes club music into the mountains, asking guests to trust the day as a whole. In January 2027, Werfenweng joins Kasberg as a second ski area. Alex Bau tells us what convinced him at the top of Bischlinghöhe, why the names on a poster shouldn’t give everything away, and how skiing and dancing come together.
Bass Mountain combines a day in a ski area with house, techno and drum & bass. Its announced 2027 dates are 16 January at Kasberg near Grünau and 23 January for its first edition in Werfenweng. According to the organiser, the ticket also includes a day ski pass, and the dancefloors are accessible without skis. As of 23 October 2026, Werfenweng tickets are on sale; the organiser’s latest notice says the Kasberg sale has yet to open. This email conversation is with Alex Bau; the answers have been lightly edited and translated from German. The photographs look back at earlier editions.
Out of the city, into the moment.
How did the idea for Bass Mountain come about? Do you remember a moment at one of the early editions when you thought: this is exactly why we wanted to do it?
The idea came from bringing together our passions: electronic music and nature! When you talk about electronic music, you very quickly end up in an urban context. Vienna, Berlin, London and so on. But however appealing urban life is, the vibe in nature, and especially in the mountains, is simply different: much more relaxed, and it’s easier to let go of everyday stress.
When the right music starts playing, that’s when you have that “aha” moment.
A panorama that made the decision.
Werfenweng joins you as a second ski area in January. What did you look at or listen to on your first visit to decide whether Bass Mountain could work there? What will be different from Kasberg?
We’d known Werfenweng, or the surrounding area, for many years from driving south on the A10. Even from the motorway, the mountain panorama is impressive, although you’re not really very high up yet.
When we took the cable car up to Bischlinghöhe for the first time, we stood there with our mouths open, thinking: “Wow, this can’t be real. What a panorama!” That settled the decision!
The event is the star!
Trust comes before the line-up.
You’ve deliberately held back the line-up until December. What does someone need to experience on a Bass Mountain day to come back next time, even if they don’t yet know any of the booked names?
We want guests to come to us with a genuinely open mind. As soon as you read an event’s line-up, the film starts playing in your head and expectations kick in, while the actual idea behind the event slips into the background. We absolutely don’t want that.
The event is the star! And the event consists of the location, the guests, the music, and only then the artists, who are essentially there to provide the perfect soundtrack to the overall experience.
Our guests have exactly that open-minded attitude, which is why they never ask about the line-up. They know what’s coming: house, techno, drum & bass — underground, real, authentic.
Besides, it’s all the nicer to see them surprised by the line-up, sometimes only a few weeks or even the day before the event.
Every spot needs its own sound.
At Kasberg, Sonnalm, the snow-groomer garage and the valley station are very different settings. How do you plan the music for them? Take us through an example: what sound works particularly well in one place but wouldn’t fit another?
On a sunny terrace in the afternoon, house and melodic techno simply sound better and create a better vibe than music that’s too hard and too fast. Energy, yes, but always suited to the time of day and the mood.
On the forecourt of a rough-edged snow-groomer garage, drum & bass fits really well. There’s no universal recipe; you have to try it out and feel it. Everything is in flow and keeps developing.
One shared day, with or without skis.
People should be able to have a good day with you even without skiing. How do you bring together those who mainly come for winter sports and those who mostly want to dance? Has any guest feedback led you to change something?
That’s never been a problem so far, because our musical approach attracts the corresponding audience. The ideal guest experiences the mountain and nature on skis in the morning; then their head is clear and the music can work its magic.
So far, we’ve always infected the skiers with the electronic music bug too, and it’ll be the same in 2027. Of course, we’re very different from typical après-ski — that’s unmistakable — but that’s exactly what our guests appreciate. Whether they’ve come deliberately or just happened to pass by.
Bass Mountain
Interview by email · Editorial and image art direction: SCENE:ID. Tobias Kalleder / INDIVISUALISTS.COM · SCENE:ID Bildgestaltung · Tobias Kalleder · SCENE:ID Bildgestaltung