Grusch-Danusa Focuses On Snow Reliability

Bergbahnen Grüsch-Danusa AG (BBGD) is focusing its activities on the renewal/expansion of snowmaking and its core competencies due to the revision of its strategy by the Board of Directors in a new composition.

After the successful ski winter of 2021/22, the Board of Directors of Bergbahnen Grüsch-Danusa AG, which met in a new composition, dealt with the future and strategic development of the company in depth. Three questions were central here:

• How to continue with the failed Mattaprojekhr
• How can the current snow reliability be increased and optimized
• Should the mountain railway get involved in the creation of managed beds in the area of ​​the valley station and thus advance the differentiation of the company
• Matta project

In March 2019, the Furna municipal assembly clearly rejected the spatial planning requirements for the construction of the new 4-seater Stäfel-Matta chairlift. Bergbahnen Grüsch-Danusa AG then agreed with the federal government (BAV), the canton and the region to suspend the project for 3 years and then to reassess the situation. With this in mind, the company contacted the municipality of Furna in January 2022 and asked for an opinion on how to proceed. This was negative for the company. In a letter from the end of March, the municipal council of Furna informed the BBGD that it was not interested in a review at the moment and considered the time for this to be 5 to 10 years too early. As a result of this decision, the only option left to the Board of Directors is write off the accumulated project costs of around CHF 0.6 million.

Without the willingness of the municipality of Furna to process the events and show new solutions, the time until a possible new municipal vote can hardly be used constructively. However, the board of directors does not want to let the "Mattaprojekhr" for the BBGD leave the only remaining possibility of substantially expanding the ski area, a generational project. Accordingly, an alternative procedure is being examined. However, the board of directors does not want to let the "Mattaprojekhr" for the BBGD leave the only remaining possibility of substantially expanding the ski area, a generational project. Accordingly, an alternative procedure is being examined. However, the board of directors does not want to let the "Mattaprojekhr" for the BBGD leave the only remaining possibility of substantially expanding the ski area, a generational project. Accordingly, an alternative procedure is being examined.

Increased snow reliability

Thanks to its slope exposure, Grüsch-Danusa now has local climatic characteristics that ensure snow sports, despite the medium altitude, for an average of around 110 to 120 operating days per season. However, climate change is and remains a major challenge.

In order to protect the investments made and to be responsible towards the employees and the region, the Board of Directors has therefore dealt in depth with the question of how the company can be better aligned to climate change in the long term.

In addition to the launch of summer operations, which unfortunately fell victim to delivery bottlenecks as part of the replacement of the gondola control system this year, optimizing snowmaking plays a central role. Extended snowmaking increases the snow security in the ski area, as an indispensable prerequisite for winter operations. This can be gradually expanded according to the possibilities of the company. The focus of the discussions of the board of directors was therefore the priority of the renewal/expansion of the snowmaking and the purchase of the snowmaking water. In the future, the latter is to be collected and obtained as groundwater in the parking lot of the mountain railways in the valley, in particular with regard to the sensitive water balance and the protection of the moor on the Schwänzelegg.

Serviced Beds

In principle, Bergbahnen Grüsch-Danusa AG has the option of expanding the existing administration building at the valley station with managed beds. After detailed discussion, this option was discarded in favor of the infrastructure tasks mentioned above. In the near future, the company will concentrate on its core competencies of mountain railways, gastronomy, ski schools and the sale and rental of sporting goods.

This with the aim of meeting guest needs in an even more targeted manner and also taking unconventional paths, very “Danusa-like”.