Leitner, Poma, Bartholet: HTI Group With 80 New Lifts Worldwide
With 80 new ropeways, the HTI Group and its ropeway manufacturers Leitner, Poma and Bartholet will be ensuring state-of-the-art standards worldwide in the coming winter season - focusing once again on numerous ski destinations in Europe and North America. Operators are increasingly relying on the company's sustainable technologies and in many places are ensuring energy-saving advancement with new ropeway projects to replace existing installations.
A particularly large number of installations of the HTI Group is going into operation in Austria in the coming season. In Hinterstoder, the GD10 "Hössbahn" will be completed in time for Christmas. At the Galsterberg in the Schladming-Dachstein region, the 10-passenger "Galsterberg" gondola lift with upholstered individual seats including generous glass fronts and plenty of legroom ensures maximum passenger comfort. The Murtal region will also be using state-of-the-art ropeway technology from next winter on. In the Grebenzen - St. Lambrecht ski area, the GD10 "Greben10" will be built by mid-December. At the Rittisberg in Styria, work on a Telemix ropeway is currently in the final phase. Thanks to its "3-in-1 technology", it can be operated as a gondola lift, chairlift or a combination of both systems. In the Axamer Lizum, former venue of the Innsbruck Olympic Games, the 10-passenger gondola lift "Hoadlbahn" including a new top station is starting operation. The region of Zillertal, in Stummerberg, will also be relying on the know-how of the Group in the coming season. Here, the CD8C "Kapaunsbahn" will replace an existing chairlift built in 1993. A new 6-seater chairlift will ensure maximum comfort in the Defereggental ski area from next winter. In the skiing jewel Alpbachtal Wildschönau, the detachable 6-seater chairlift CD6C "Hornbahn 2000" will transport guests to the top station "Top of Alpbachtal" in under four minutes.
Strong presence also in Italy, France, Scandinavia and Switzerland
In France and Switzerland, too, operators are providing strong modernization impetus for the coming season. However, a particularly big exclamation mark is coming from Northern Europe in particular: In Scandinavia, the Group implemented twelve projects in 2022, thus ensuring the attractiveness of well-known ski resorts from Idre Fjäll to Romme Alpin, Âre to Voss. Italian ski resorts also prepared for the winter with similar intensity. In addition to the Rosskopf gondola lift in Vipiteno, new ropeway installations were also built in Breuil-Cervinia-Valtournenche, in Speikboden, on the Alpe di Siusi, and in the Via Lattea Olympic ski area in Sestriere on the border between Piemont and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur.
Improvements in the United States
Many ski regions in North America are starting the ski season with numerous innovations, where a real ropeway boom can be observed this year. A total of 28 new installations from the HTI Group are going into operation in the USA this year. These include two new installations in Vail, the largest ski resort in North America. Another highlight is the 8-passenger gondola lift "Base to Base" connecting the Palisades Tahoe and Alpine Meadows resorts in the Sierra Nevada, creating the largest ski area in California. Other installations have also been completed in Wyoming, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Montana, Utah, Colorado and California, among others.
The HTI Group was also active in winter sports in Argentina and China. In Argentina, three new installations will be built in 2022 and 2023. The first will be a chairlift in the Cerro Catedral winter sports center in Bariloche, which is one of the largest and most important ski resorts in South America. China is also continuing to invest in winter sports, with Poma building a ropeway for an indoor ski center in Shanghai.
Innovative developments for sustainable ski resorts
The intensive construction program is characterized more than ever by new construction projects to replace existing facilities and the associated benefits in terms of sustainability. This is because upgrading to new technologies and products in particular saves valuable resources and brings maximum effects in terms of energy consumption and operating efficiency. "We are very proud to have been selected by the most renowned international ski resorts for the further technical development as well as the new construction of their facilities. It shows that we are the right partner for all those who want to rely on innovative solutions. Operators are paying ever-increasing attention to the factors of energy and ecological sustainability," emphasizes President Anton Seeber. In this context, the companies of the HTI Group are increasingly able to score with their in-house solutions, which have now established themselves as standard equipment in numerous projects. The best example of this is the DirectDrive, which is now indispensable in any new ropeways and scores points with its special attributes in terms of noise reduction, ease of maintenance and energy savings. The EcoDrive is the latest resource-saving development in the HTI Group. The adaptive speed control for ropeways is integrated into the control system and regulates the speed of the installation on the basis of a camera system that records the number of waiting guests at the stations. In this way, automatic speed reduction enables energy savings of up to 20 percent without compromising ride comfort.
In terms of resource optimization, Skadii, the patented digital platform for ski area management, is particularly noteworthy. Already 350 ski resorts around the world rely on Skadii to make processes and workflows in ski resorts even more effective, efficient and clear.
A particularly large number of installations of the HTI Group is going into operation in Austria in the coming season. In Hinterstoder, the GD10 "Hössbahn" will be completed in time for Christmas. At the Galsterberg in the Schladming-Dachstein region, the 10-passenger "Galsterberg" gondola lift with upholstered individual seats including generous glass fronts and plenty of legroom ensures maximum passenger comfort. The Murtal region will also be using state-of-the-art ropeway technology from next winter on. In the Grebenzen - St. Lambrecht ski area, the GD10 "Greben10" will be built by mid-December. At the Rittisberg in Styria, work on a Telemix ropeway is currently in the final phase. Thanks to its "3-in-1 technology", it can be operated as a gondola lift, chairlift or a combination of both systems. In the Axamer Lizum, former venue of the Innsbruck Olympic Games, the 10-passenger gondola lift "Hoadlbahn" including a new top station is starting operation. The region of Zillertal, in Stummerberg, will also be relying on the know-how of the Group in the coming season. Here, the CD8C "Kapaunsbahn" will replace an existing chairlift built in 1993. A new 6-seater chairlift will ensure maximum comfort in the Defereggental ski area from next winter. In the skiing jewel Alpbachtal Wildschönau, the detachable 6-seater chairlift CD6C "Hornbahn 2000" will transport guests to the top station "Top of Alpbachtal" in under four minutes.
Strong presence also in Italy, France, Scandinavia and Switzerland
In France and Switzerland, too, operators are providing strong modernization impetus for the coming season. However, a particularly big exclamation mark is coming from Northern Europe in particular: In Scandinavia, the Group implemented twelve projects in 2022, thus ensuring the attractiveness of well-known ski resorts from Idre Fjäll to Romme Alpin, Âre to Voss. Italian ski resorts also prepared for the winter with similar intensity. In addition to the Rosskopf gondola lift in Vipiteno, new ropeway installations were also built in Breuil-Cervinia-Valtournenche, in Speikboden, on the Alpe di Siusi, and in the Via Lattea Olympic ski area in Sestriere on the border between Piemont and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur.
Improvements in the United States
Many ski regions in North America are starting the ski season with numerous innovations, where a real ropeway boom can be observed this year. A total of 28 new installations from the HTI Group are going into operation in the USA this year. These include two new installations in Vail, the largest ski resort in North America. Another highlight is the 8-passenger gondola lift "Base to Base" connecting the Palisades Tahoe and Alpine Meadows resorts in the Sierra Nevada, creating the largest ski area in California. Other installations have also been completed in Wyoming, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Montana, Utah, Colorado and California, among others.
The HTI Group was also active in winter sports in Argentina and China. In Argentina, three new installations will be built in 2022 and 2023. The first will be a chairlift in the Cerro Catedral winter sports center in Bariloche, which is one of the largest and most important ski resorts in South America. China is also continuing to invest in winter sports, with Poma building a ropeway for an indoor ski center in Shanghai.
Innovative developments for sustainable ski resorts
The intensive construction program is characterized more than ever by new construction projects to replace existing facilities and the associated benefits in terms of sustainability. This is because upgrading to new technologies and products in particular saves valuable resources and brings maximum effects in terms of energy consumption and operating efficiency. "We are very proud to have been selected by the most renowned international ski resorts for the further technical development as well as the new construction of their facilities. It shows that we are the right partner for all those who want to rely on innovative solutions. Operators are paying ever-increasing attention to the factors of energy and ecological sustainability," emphasizes President Anton Seeber. In this context, the companies of the HTI Group are increasingly able to score with their in-house solutions, which have now established themselves as standard equipment in numerous projects. The best example of this is the DirectDrive, which is now indispensable in any new ropeways and scores points with its special attributes in terms of noise reduction, ease of maintenance and energy savings. The EcoDrive is the latest resource-saving development in the HTI Group. The adaptive speed control for ropeways is integrated into the control system and regulates the speed of the installation on the basis of a camera system that records the number of waiting guests at the stations. In this way, automatic speed reduction enables energy savings of up to 20 percent without compromising ride comfort.
In terms of resource optimization, Skadii, the patented digital platform for ski area management, is particularly noteworthy. Already 350 ski resorts around the world rely on Skadii to make processes and workflows in ski resorts even more effective, efficient and clear.
