Kitzbühel’s New 8-Seater “Jufen” Chairlift By Leitner With Pininfarina Station Adds a New Highlight This Winter
The longstanding cooperation between Bergbahn AG Kitzbühel and LEITNER ropeways reaches a new peak this winter season. With the new 8-seater “Jufen” chairlift, the operators are relying on latest generation ropeway technology in the traditional Tyrolean winter sports destination. Besides the outstanding comfort and a significantly higher transport capacity, the new look is proving a real eye-catcher: the Pininfarina-designed stations are a new highlight in the home of the world’s most famous downhill race. LEITNER ropeways has been a partner to the Hahnenkamm races since winter 2012/13.
However, the cooperation has a sustainable impact on the Alpine sports town that goes far above and beyond professional sports. For example, the new 8-seater “Jufen” chairlift opened on 17 December 2017, replacing a 34 year-old 3-seater chairlift in the heart of the Kitzbühel ski resort. The new powerful ropeway by LEITNER ropeways is already the company’s 15th consecutive ropeway in Kitzbühel and takes comfort and safety to the next level. Besides an attractive design, the station designed by Pininfarina also brings a series of technological innovations to the ski area. “Our decisions always focus on the benefits for our passengers,that is comfort and quality. The equipment of CD8C Jufen meets the very highest standards in these areas,” is how Josef Burger, Director of Bergbahn AG Kitzbühel, sums up the various advantages of the new system.
The most obvious change is that the station roofing has been extended significantly, to completely cover the chairs passing underneath it. The resulting optimized rain and snow protection makes the journey a more comfortable experience for passengers. The sophisticated shape also minimizes snow and wind loads, also ensuring that the entire structure, including the foundations, is not exposed to unnecessary additional loads. The design also includes more glass surfaces, which extend far lower than previously. This new feature makes the station interior even brighter and more friendly, and also greatly facilitates maintenance work. Combined with an attractive design, this is another product with advantages for everyone: companies, staff and winter sports enthusiasts.
“The fact that CD8C Jufen combines the benefits for customers with the strong functionality of the new Pininfarina station and the energy-saving LEITNER DirectDrive is an immense advantage of the new system,” explains Burger.
Fitted with LEITNER Premium Chairs, with heatable real leather seats and bubbles, the “Jufen” chairlift’s transport capacity on the roughly two and a half minute journey is now 2,600 passengers per hour. This makes long wait and traveling times for the connection from Ehrenbachhöhe towards Pengelstein mountain and on to Jochberg a thing of the past. When building the new chairlift, the operators chose a particularly sustainable and environmentally friendly version. The impact on nature was minimal, and the number of support towers was reduced from 19 to 11. The state-of-the-art 8-seater “Jufen” chairlift really adds quality and offers Bergbahn AG Kitzbühel’s passengers the latest generation technology and design from LEITNER ropeways.
