Interalpin Book Presentation: Sierra Nevada – The History Of Ropeways

The INTERALPIN trade fair is a unique meeting place for alpine technologies. This year Doppelmayr and Sierra Nevada took the opportunity to present a new book: Sierra Nevada – The history of ropeways written by Juan José Lapuerta Rodríguez – a ropeway and winter sports enthusiast with a passion for history. The book presents the author’s research and unique historic discoveries. It is available in Spanish and English.

When in the nineties of the last century Sierra Nevada was a candidate for the organization of the FIS Alpine Ski World Championships, Doppelmayr understood the importance of the project and offered the necessary funding to carry it out being one of the elements of the success of this event in 1996. That is why the history of Sierra Nevada has been linked to Doppelmayr for decades.

But an unexpected derivative of this long relationship is that Juan José Lapuerta Rodríguez, who learned to ski in Sierra Nevada and studied civil engineering at the University of Granada, has ended up working for Doppelmayr in Wolfurt. Juan José is a restless man who is involved in various social initiatives, both in Austria and in Spain. For example, activities for the children of the village where he lives in the Bregenzerwald or the recovery of an old tramway that used to get the first skiers into what is now the Sierra Nevada National Park.

Juan José Lapuerta Rodríguez began to study the lifts of the Sierra Nevada and, what at first was only a stimulus for his intellectual curiosity, became the project for a book that has recently been presented in Spain and is now being presented in its English version at the trade fair INTERALPIN 2023. Doppelmayr and Sierra Nevada have again collaborated to support this project.

Michael Doppelmayr, Chairman of the Board of the Doppelmayr Group, and the CEO of Sierra Nevada, Jesús Ibáñez, have highlighted the important research work done by Juan José Lapuerta Rodríguez with unpublished data on the history of ski lifts in general and in particular on those of Sierra Nevada. During his research Juan José Lapuerta Rodríguez’s curiosity led him to discovered a photograph of the ski resort Bödele from 1907 that shows what is supposed to be the very first ski lift – a unique piece of history which is presented in the book.

The book “Sierra Nevada – The History of Ropeways” highlights the importance and efforts of the snow industry to provide safe and future-proof entertainment for new generations. Snow is a great place to be and ski lifts bring the world of snow to everyone. It is not only a history of the machines, it is also the history of the men who built and used them. This approach also makes the book even more human and personal.

“Sierra Nevada – The History of Ropeways” is available in Spanish and English for 30 Euros. For inquiries please contact the author directly at remontes.sn@gmail.com.