Right on time for the start of winter season, two new ultramodern gondola lifts will go into operation. The 10-passenger cabin lift on the Galsterberg and the combo lift on the Rittisberg promise total comfort and convenience, along with a lift experience with its finger very much on the pulse of the times. How far is the path from planning such a lift to the first actual ride? We spoke with the minds behind these projects.
For Galsterberg boss Peter Weichbold, the 21st of April was a very special day. Eleven hours of building-approval negotiations. Before that, months of planning and convincing. At 7:30 PM on the dot, it was finally placed in his hands: a positive decision and green light for construction of the new cableway on the Galsterberg. “On the very next day, we began to tear down the old lift”, says Weichbold. What followed was an organizational tour de force since, with only a few months until the next winter season, there wasn’t much time left to create the new lift from the ground up.
State-of-the-art technology
The 10-passenger cabin lift on the Galsterberg outside Pruggern is one of two new cableways to go into operation in the Schladming-Dachstein Region this winter. It will replace a more than 30-years-old grouped lift. Too little room, long waits and two stops on the way up the mountain: All factors that ultimately necessitated the construction of a new lift. The situation on the Rittisberg in Ramsau am Dachstein was similar. “The old chairlift was increasingly becoming a bottleneck and no longer fit in with our overall offer”, says Hans-Peter Steiner, who is responsible there, amongst other things, for product development. Punctually for the 50th anniversary of this ski mountain, the former quad chairlift will now be replaced by an ultramodern combo lift – a combination of chairlift and gondola.
Greater performance, greater comfort
The six-seater chairlifts will allow skiers to get to the top of the Rittisberg quickly with their sports equipment already clamped on and ready to go. Meanwhile, the gondolas offer winter hikers and snowshoers, cross-country skiers and children from the Ramsau ski schools a safe, comfortable means to ride to the top. On the Galsterberg, too, the new gondola lift is all about comfort. It provides significantly more space than before, upholstered individual seats, greater legroom – and, thanks to broad glass sides, fantastic panoramic views out across the Ennstal valley.
Next stops: Alaska and Poland
All of this notwithstanding, the previous lifts are far from being mothballed. The “Old Lady”, as the aging Galsterberg lift is lovingly nicknamed, is undergoing a complete facelift to be re-erected in Alaska. And the old Rittisberg chairlift will find a new home in Poland. That said, there is no time for wistfulness either on the Galsterberg or the Rittisberg. “We now have a modern, perfect cableway on the Rittisberg”, says Hans-Peter Steiner. Peter Weichbold is also delighted by the new lift: “With the new 10-passenger gondola, we have ensured skiing on the Galsterberg for the next decades.”
