Resort Offering Minimum Lift Time For Maximum Descent KM Identified
A study of over 25,000 lifts has found the cable car/tram at Italian glacier resort of Val Senales offers skiers and riders the longest amount of piste for each minute they spend ascending.
The Italian glacier resort of Val Senales (Schnalstal), which in September was one of only two outdoor ski areas open in the northern hemisphere, has come top in a study of the lifts that offer skiers and riders the longest amount of piste for each minute they spend ascending.
The study, carried out by the German-based ski-area-stats specialists Montenius, found that for every minute you spend ascending on the centre’s Grawand cable car (tram) you are rewarded with 1.599 km (just under a mile) of pisted descent. The lift effectively sets the world record for the minimum uplift time to maximum piste distance achievable ratio
“In Schnalstal the ride with the Grawand tram takes a little less than five minutes and you get 7.9 km of downhill, which means one mile of skiing per minute of riding the lift (1.599 km to be precise). It has been a very close race with a cable car in Alpe d’Huez,” said Christoph Schrahe of Montenius.
The study considered more than 25,000 lifts and over 20,000 km of pistes at ski areas worldwide.
The Alpette/Rosses lift at Alpe dHuez came second by just a metre, at 1.589 kilometres per minute of ascent. The Col Margherita lift at San Pellegino was third delivering 1.530km per minute of uplift.
