Austria's Brixen im Thale, part of the giant Skiwelt area, has announced it will be installing what it claims will be the world's fastest chairlift in time to begin operation next winter 2015-16.
The new Jochbahn, a detachable eight-seater chairlift, will operate on the resort's Sonnseite ("Sunny Side") and be nearly two and a half times faster than the lift it replaces, travelling at a world beating six-metres per second (mps) compared with the 2.5mps of the older lift.
The Jochbahn, which comes with a €12m price tag and an impressive hourly uplift capacity of 3,000 people, deploys not just the very latest technology, but the route will be extended too.
The new valley station is situated at the same level as Gasthof Nieding, so the lift is now more than double its previous length, but thanks to its high speed, the journey time is considerably less compared to the old lift.
The old Holzalm drag lift has had to be dismantled to make space for the new construction and the new piste. The new lift track was built without any earth movements and land clearances and the existing slopes were harmoniously integrated into the Jochbahn's new downhill run. Skiers above – cars below. Thanks to a spectacular underpass near Gasthof Nieding, the piste now crosses over the access road so no junction is needed and that's a great safety feature for the popular Brixen valley descent.
The lift itself is a veritable gem and forms one of the most modern systems in the entire SkiWelt. All 75 chairs on the two-kilometer Jochbahn will be equipped with comfort suspension, heated seats and weather protection hoods.
The new lift is not only the fastest of its kind anywhere in the world, but it is also a system that in terms of comfort performs in the top league. There's a solar panel farm covering 180 sq.m (on the south side of the chair garage) and this has an important role in ensuring that the energy supply for new lift is sustainable.
"With the construction of the extended Joch lift and the new Joch descent, which has already opened this winter, Brixen now has a very attractive, varied, sunny and snow-assured (constantly machine snowed) piste paradise, which appeals not just to families and beginners, but also to dedicated skiers," said a SkiWelt statement.
With 90 cable cars and lifts, 280 kilometres of ski slopes to suit all abilities SkiWelt Wilder Kaiser – Brixental is the largest interconnected ski area in Austria.