Ischgl in the Austrian Tirol launches its five month ski season at the end of November with another multi-million euro investments that will see it unveil more high-tech ski lifts – something it does almost every season.
This summer it has splurged €24m on two new chairlifts, Velilleck and Visnitz, which replace lifts of the same name.
The 6-seater heated Velilleck chairs also have weather protection hoods, featuring images of local plants on the backs, following on the theme introduced two years ago on the Palinkopf lift which depicts the rock stars to have performed in Ischgl's famous open air concerts – and then last winter with the upgraded Gampenbahn lift sporting alpine animals.
The new €13.5m Velilleckbahn, taking skiers up to Pardatschgrat, is 1300m longer than the old lift – which carried more than 14m people during its 41 years' service – and is faster and quieter than any other lift in Ischgl's Silvretta Arena, capable of carrying up to 2,400 people an hour.
Visnitzbahn is on the Swiss side of the Silvretta Arena at Alp Trida and the 8-seater, heated chairs with weatherhoods are the first of its type in Switzerland. The €10.5m lift, which replaces a mere quad installed way back in the 1990s, can carry 3,500 people per hour.
Ischgl's has 239km of piste and its five-month long winter season opens on 28 November and the opening concert on Saturday 30 November features Berlin-based cult band Seeed. The act for the closing concert on 2 May 2020 has yet to be announced.