Year on year, ski resorts are finding better ways to enhance their resort, to make it more accessible, introduce new activities and new sights to see amongst the mountains. From new accommodation to ski lifts, their infrastructure is always adapting to be the most user friendly and to ensure guests have the most comfortable and enjoyable holiday possible. It makes sense to update ski lifts, when riding them takes up the majority of a skiers day! Get inspired for your 2019/20 ski holiday with the latest advancements in ski resorts.
So what have these ski resorts have in store for next season?
France
Les Deux Alpes
A new lift will be built in the Chalance bowl in order to access the glacier from La Fee. The original four man Crêtes chairlift will be replaced by an eight man fast chairlift and will be moved to Le Thuit in order to replace the slow lifts there and have a faster route back from La Fee. The Super Venosc chairlift, built in 1987, will also be replaced with a shorter and faster chairlift but still reusing the old Toura chairlift.
Avoriaz
Avoriaz have a big addition to the Portes du Soleil area with the new link between Avoriaz and Champéry-Les Crosets over in the Swiss side of the ski domain. This link will be made by a six person chairlift in order to improve the ski area's accessibility. There will also be a new chairlift that will replace the old 3 person Léchère lift which took riders from the Lindarets bowl to the bottom of the Mossettes and Brocheaux chairlifts. The chairlift will now reach a new area off the Abricotine blue slope, 600m further uphill than it was before. The €15million construction project will increase capacity from 1800 to 2700 skiers per hour.
La Plagne
Christmas 2020 will see La Plagne's 1978 Bellecôte glacier gondola replaced, sticking to the same general route as previous.
Courchevel Le Praz
The quaint village of Le Praz will see a new ten seater gondola arrive near the top of the Tovets chairlift, a shorter route which also means an easier walk up to La Croisette area. In addition, there will also be a new base station which will be named 'The Alpinium'. It will integrate a tourist office, lift pass office, function rooms with kitchen and bar facilities, 120 ski lockers, children's play area, public toilets and a 500 space large underground car park. This car park will also double up as an electric go-kart circuit during the off season from May to November. In 2023 you'll even see the men's races finish on the roof of the building at the Alpine Ski World Championships! Read more about the latest developements in Courchevel here.
Tignes
For 2020, the Marais chairlift in Tignes will be modernised. This means faster access to the Aiguille Percée at 2723m, otherwise known as 'the eye of the needle' plus a magic carpet will be built on the Marais plateau.
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Austria
Sölden
There will be a direct connection from Solden to Hochsölden in early December 2019. The new Rotkogl gondola will be a ten seater lift to replace the double chairlift, having an hourly capacity of 1330 people and will be 1.2km in length. This is great news for non skiers who will be able to reach Giggijoch directly as well as beginners and families with children who will be able to also directly reach the beginner area. The lift will see advantages of slow entry and exit speed, barrier free access and wind and weather protection.
Kitzbuhel
Kitzbuhel will update the Fleckalmbahn gondola to improve comfort (heated seats!) and functionality for guests as well as conserving resources.
Kaprun
Back in April, Kaprun saw construction to build a lift connection between Maiskogel and Kitzensteinhorn ski areas. But 2019/2020 season marks the possibility to directly reach the highest height of Salzburg at 3029m from Kaprun centre way down the valley at 768m via the Maiskogel due to the 12km long string of 6 gondola lifts. Boasting ski-in/ski-out convenience for Kitzsteinhorn, it also will mean the area will put itself top of the league of ski areas.
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USA
Jackson Hole
Due to open November this year, the new four seater chairlift will replace the Eagle's Rest lift which was removed back in 2016. This will ensure improved access to advanced and beginner terrain in the resort, following its busiest season on record with more than 715,000 visits!
Vail
To decrease Vail's lift wait times, the Brooks and Daisy chairlifts will be replaced. The Brooks, at Stevens Pass, will see an upgrade to a high speed detachable four man chairlift and the Daisy will be renovated to a fixed four man.
Winter Park
Restoration of the Sunnyside lift will see an increase uphill capacity by 800 people per hour and reduce the ride time by more than half with the new detachable high speed six person lift.
Copper Mountain
Running from the bottom of the Blackjack chair at the top of the Taco Chute, the new Tuckern lift will be able to access expert terrain on the Tucker Mountain by a three person chairlift. This is a big improvement for the resort as previously the terrain was only accessible by snowcat service on weather permitting weekend days.
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