Kitzbühel is working on a major project this summer to upgrade its Fleckalmbahn lift, but says the aim is to provide a higher quality experience, not so much to increase uphill speed and capacity, although it does that too. It will also use less energy to operate.
The new lift will have spacious, 10 passenger cabins and travel at 70kph up the slopes, compared to the 6 passenger cabins traveling at 40kph of the old lift it replaces.
Coming in with a total price tag of € 27.5 million, the Leitner-built Fleckalmbahn is the largest single investment in the history of Kitzbühel’s lift company and is the latest in a €220 million spend on ski area improvements by the resort over the past 10 years.
Despite the bigger cabins and faster speed however the new lift will not have a much-increased uplift capacity, only going up from 2,400 to 2,590 passengers per hour, but annual energy consumption will drop dramatically by 75,000 kWh
The project, due to open in December, will also include new base and top stations with state-[of-the-art ski shop, ski storage facility and a 50% bigger maintenance garage.
The old Fleckalmbahn had clocked up 35 years of service and carried 30.5 million passengers since it was installed in 1984.
“With the Fleckalmbahn project, we are successfully continuing our quality offensive. ‘Much better – not bigger’ is the guiding principle by which we re-implement the Fleckalmbahn project as part of our policy to focus on maximising guest comfort, functionality and resource conservation in our installations,” said Dr. Josef Burger, Member of the Management Board of Bergbahn AG Kitzbühel, adding, “The new Fleckalmbahn will offer the highest passenger comfort and most state-of-the-art ropeway technology currently available on the market and further strengthen the competitive position of Bergbahn AG Kitzbühel regionally and internationally!”
