LEITNER brings more sustainable technology and premium comfort to Italy

Lots of renewals are afoot at Italy’s ski resorts in time for this winter season, and many of them will be the product of LEITNER’s famous expertise. Central to all is the LEITNER DirectDrive. As the most ecofriendly drive system on the market, it’s more in demand than ever, especially with energy being in such short supply. The company has also been deploying some of other strengths: comfort, custom features, and stunning design.

A new ropeway era is set to begin at Rosskopf in Sterzing. The resort’s 6-passenger gondola lift, which was commissioned right back in 1987, will be replaced in time for winter by a modern 10-passenger gondola system. The GD10 Rosskopf is being built along the exact same route, including the well-known crossing of the Brenner Autobahn, and will visually symbolize the whole region’s modernization and upgrading. New buildings and architectural touches are also coming. The new gondola lift will include new stations at the top and bottom; the latter will accommodate Sterzing’s tourism association in new offices. Thanks to LEITNER DirectDrive, the ropeway itself will be ecofriendly, easy to maintain, low-noise, and gentle on resources.

It has some other great features too. The GD10 Rosskopf will be equipped with the new Diamond EVO premium cabins, which are super-comfortable to sit in and offer an amazing all-round visual experience.

Statement by Hannes Stofner, President of the Board of Directors of Neue Rosskopf GmbH:

"The LEITNER company has always been a reliable partner of the Rosskopf. The technical and structural solutions that were offered to us for this project completely convinced us. The fast and fail-safe service on site was also one of the main reasons why we opted for this 10-person gondola lift from LEITNER."

Upgrades at the Speikboden ski resort are along similar lines. Leitner is replacing its 30-year-old 4-seater chairlift with a modern 8-seater ropeway. The new CD8C Seenock chairlift uses the existing route and features LEITNER DirectDrive, premium leather seats, weather bubbles, and seat heating. The modern 8-seater chairlift’s station has been designed by Italy’s renowned Pininfarina. The new ropeway will increase capacity to 3,400 passengers per hour, bring the journey time down to just four minutes, and give easy access to the diverse slopes of this family-friendly ski resort, the highlight of which is the almost five-mile-long valley run with 1450 meters of descent – one of the biggest drops in South Tyrol’s skiing world.

Statement by Martin Unterweger, managing director of Speikboden AG regarding CD8C Seenock:

“Leitner assisted Speikboden AG by advising it in the planning phase and developed a tailored solution for its new ropeway. The solution they came up with for using our chair garage won us over. Speikboden AG has been able to retain and adapt its existing garage, thereby saving money. LEITNER’s design, technology, and user-friendliness all ticked the right boxes, and this is the first time that we will be installing one of their 8-seater chairlifts at Ahrntal.”

New 6-seater chairlifts increase capacity, comfort, speed

The old Spitzbühl 2-seater chairlift at the Seiseralm ski resort will be replaced this winter season with a modern 6-seater upgrade. Powered by a LEITNER DirectDrive, the CD6C Spitzbühl ropeway will offer weather bubbles and seat heating for more comfort, a shorter journey time, and greater capacity at 2,400 passengers per hour. Work began in fall 2021. This new ropeway will help boost the whole region’s appeal.

Visitors to the Breuil-Cervinia-Valtournenche ski will also be able to enjoy a new 6-seater chairlift this coming winter. Together with the Swiss ski resort of Zermatt, this area belongs to the Matterhorn Ski Paradise, one of the biggest and most snow-sure resorts in the Alps. The CD6C Gran Sometta will be powered by an ecofriendly LEITNER DirectDrive and fitted with heated seats and weather bubbles.

Modern upgrades are also the order of the day at the Via Lattea ski resort on the border between Italy’s Piedmont region and the French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur. The new CD6 Cit Roc is routed parallel to the Sestriere World Cup run and will carry up to 3,000 passengers per hour on a journey that takes just under five minutes. This marks a significant improvement for this resort in the Olympic region of Turin, with its 400 kilometers of ski runs.

Doubling is on the agenda at the San Martino di Castrozza ski area, where LEITNER is building the new CF4 Cima Tognola 4-seater chairlift. Its top station will be somewhat higher than that of its 2-seater predecessor, making for a quicker connection to the Cigolera 6-seater lift. It is set in the middle of the Dolomites and offers a capacity of 1,200 passengers per hour.

LEITNER is also building two additional surface lifts at the Jochgrimm ski resorts and at the 3 Zinnen ski region on the Haunold in time for the coming season.