LEITNER 10-passenger Gondola Brixen-Plose: The Start Of A New Era

The Brixen-Plose ski and hiking area is certainly a favourite destination for sports enthusiasts and people seeking recreation in both winter and summer.

The opening of the new LEITNER 10-passenger gondola lift on 08.07.2023, marks the beginning of a new era of modern, environmentally friendly and innovative transport quality for the region. In the construction of the 26-million-euro-project, which is located around theold line, special attention was paid to careful overall planning, and maximum protection of the existing protected zones.

Worldwide unique is the fully automated loading and unloading of ‘mountaincarts’ at the bottom and top station of the new ropeway. Until the end of the last winter season, the connection to the Plose ski area, with its 42.5 kilometres of slopes and seven lifts, was provided by a 6-passenger gondola lift dating back to 1986.

In late summer 2022, work began on the new LEITNER GD10 ‘Plosebahn’, a twosection gondola lift that since inauguration on 08.07.2023, reaches the mountain station at 2,505 metres above sea level.

The two-section gondola lift brings significant benefits in the use of both the existing recreational infrastructure and the station buildings. “Now, we will also be able to make optimal use of the upper part of the Trametsch slope in the event that the slope further down the valley cannot be used due to lack of snow. In such a scenario, the new ropeway will also make it possible to use the four and a half kilometres further uphill of the ‘Rudirun’ toboggan run, which is nine kilometres long in total,” revealed Alessandro Marzola, managing director of Plose Ski SpA.

Thanks to careful overall planning, new spaces have also been created: an underground garage for the 78 cabins in the new middle station creates additional space for other services in the bottom and top station. 

The two sections of the new GD10 ‘Plose’ are both equipped with a LEITNER DirectDrive LD9. The three buildings, which house the stations, create additional potential for a modern overall offering.

The old top station, for example, houses a service centre with rental and sale of sports equipment, spaces for infopoints, first aid and service rooms for staff.

During construction, special attention was paid to the protected water areas in the mountains, as well as to the harmonious integration of the new works into the landscape and the renaturalisation of areas that were no longer needed. In addition, the new gondola lift impresses with the advantages of the state-of-the-art technology by LEITNER.

Visitors travel in 78 10-passenger Diamond EVO cabins that can transport up to 2,400 people per hour along the 2.6-kilometre line. With the new ropeway, the operator also decided to make it possible to transport bicycles and ‘mountaincarts’. So unlike in the past, bikes and carts will no longer travel inside the cabins, but will be attached to the outside.

One technical solution that is certainly a world first concerns the automatic loading and unloading of ‘mountaincarts’ from the cabins in the valley and mountain station. These operations mainly take place underground, so passenger boarding comfort is not affected in any way. A new solution has also been found for bicycles: the new LEITNER bike rack is mounted on the left and right side of each second cabin. These bike racks can be folded up once the operation is complete, not affecting the distance between vehicles during storage