The highest peak in the resort of Ischgl will be served by a new luxury six-seater ‘designer’ chairlift this winter.

The chairs and sleek top and bottom stations have been designed to be pleasing on the eye as well as ultra-functional – and the chairs will have heated seats as well as orange-tinted weather bubbles.

The new eight-million euro Lange Wand chairlift will run from the Höllenkar Valley, a little above the Höllboden restaurant, up to the Greitspitz, Ischgl’s top station at 2,872-metres – the lift gaining more than 600-metres vertical. The lift will carry 2,400 people an hour, with a journey time of 5.6 minutes and will open up easy access from the Höllenkar area to the superb challenging runs that drop down from the Greitspitz.

"The Lange Wand chairlift will be eye-catching, with each chair having a striking black frame, and the lift stations will complement the fabulous surrounding scenery," said Ischgl Tourist Director Andreas Steibl. "It will be a spectacular addition to one of the most modern and innovative lift systems in the Alps."

On the Samnaun side of the Ischgl network, across the border in Switzerland, the nearly 20-year-old Muller chairlift in the Alp Bella area will be replaced with a new six-seater detachable chair with comfortable leather upholstery and weather bubbles.

Expansion of snow-making facilities

Given its high altitude (core ski area over 2,300 m), the Silvretta Arena has one of the highest certainties of natural snowfall in the Alps, as last Winter proved! Despite this, the ‘Silvrettaseilbahn AG' and ‘Bergbahnen Samnaun AG' lift companies are investing heavily in expanding the technical artificial snow-making facilities here.

Pumped and compressed air unit, Bodenalpe
Snow-machines for Zeblas valley descent
Additional 5 km of pistes covered by snow machines
approx. 70 % of entire ski resort is covered by snow machine facilities.

In total, twenty-million euros is being spent this summer improving and refining the Ischgl/Samnaun linked area. This includes the new lifts, new snow-making machines, increasing the coverage to 70 per cent of the entire network, expansion of avalanche safety equipment, new staff facilities and garaging for snow groomers.

More information on Ischgl at www.paznaun-ischgl.com