The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Despite massive corona losses: Zugspitzbahn is building ski tunnels in Garmisch-Partenkirchen - construction will start soon

2021-04-06T12:50:20.687Z


The Bavarian Zugspitzbahn normally generates around 25 million euros in sales in one winter. Almost everything fell away. Nevertheless: The company is investing. For 1.5 million euros, it is building a ski tunnel and replacing a rope lift in the Garmisch-Classic ski area.


The Bavarian Zugspitzbahn normally generates around 25 million euros in sales in one winter.

Almost everything fell away.

Nevertheless: The company is investing.

For 1.5 million euros, it is building a ski tunnel and replacing a rope lift in the Garmisch-Classic ski area.

Garmisch-Partenkirchen -

Nobody can stand him.

Even board member Matthias Stauch annoys him enormously, the old rope lift between Längenfelder and Kreuzeck.

The Bayerische Zugspitzbahn (BZB) wanted to replace it with a magic carpet, the plans were in place.

But: "Everything that is luxury will be postponed", it was said in December 2020, when Corona had already struck fully - but at the BZB at least there was still hope for skiing, for a little money in the coffers.

As is well known, it was not fulfilled.

No skiing, no money.

Not even Corona aid from the federal government - but a magic carpet.

Because that is now being implemented - as part of a much larger construction project.

Construction project in Garmisch-Partenkirchen: 45 meter long ski tunnel planned - including a 45 meter gallery

At the most recent supervisory board meeting, those responsible decided: They are building a 45-meter-long ski tunnel plus a 45-meter-long gallery near the Kreuzeckbahn mountain station, and they are widening the existing ski path in the area of ​​the Zugbringerlift in the direction of Kreuzeck.

And when the opportunity arises, they will also replace the old tow rope (

see box for construction work

).

All in all for 1.5 million euros.

The Zugspitzbahn has expected sales of around 25 million euros this winter.

But apart from the 15 euros parking fee that it has been charging since the end of December 2020 and the 3.10 euros for a ticket for the ride on the cog railway between Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Grainau, sales remained at zero.

When you look at this balance sheet, you think of a lot - certainly not of a building project that, according to BZB spokeswoman Verena Altenhofen, is primarily used for modernization and increases comfort for guests.

Supposed luxury that one wanted to do without in the pandemic year.

Postponing this project, however, was a bad option or not an option for the BZB.

Sales in the Corona winter almost at zero: the construction project could hardly be postponed

+

The site plan for the construction project: At the top right you can see the Hexenkessel lift exit.

Green marks the new entrance to the conveyor belt, coming from the Hochalm.

The pink-colored section shows the tunnel plus the gallery with conveyor belt in the direction of the Hexenkessel slope.

The descent for skiers in the direction of Osterfelder / Hochalm is analogous to the forest road.

© Bavarian Zugspitzbahn

For years, the company has been planning to alleviate the bottleneck in the Garmisch-Classic ski area on the ski path towards Längenfelder or Kreuzeck.

The subject of safety plays an important role for the technical manager Karl Dirnhofer, because the risk of collision will in future be reduced in the crossing area at the rope lift via a parallel route.

But all of that could have been taken care of once you have recovered from the damage caused by the pandemic.

But: The existing building permit expires.

And it wasn't easy to get them.

In the past few months, the BZB Dirnhofer presented twelve variants for the construction.

The current one received its blessings from all sides in the complex approval process, also from the nature conservation advisory board of the district office.

"We are happy to have a final solution now," says Dirnhofer.

They are no longer so easy to give away.

Ski tunnel in Garmisch-Partenkirchen: work could start in May - four months of construction

The offers from the construction companies are also all available.

In addition, the municipal utilities, of which the BZB is a subsidiary, were very interested in implementing the project.

She has to lay water and sewage pipes from the Hochalm and the Alpspitzbahn mountain station in the direction of Kreuzeck.

The work is subsidized through a funding program.

However, this only applies this year.

For all these reasons, “we decided to build this summer after all,” says Dirnhofer.

He and his team want to start after the snow has melted, probably in May.

The work should take about four months.

This means that winter sports enthusiasts would already be driving through the new tunnel in the 2021/22 season.

During the construction work there will be slight changes for hikers around the Kreuzeckhaus.

Because the hiking trail is being relocated temporarily, some of it leads over the construction site.

In the case of special work, there may be short-term closures.

Gallery, tunnel and conveyor belt: the construction project in the ski area

The 1.5 million euro project includes a new, partially tunneled ski path route, a gallery, a widened ski path and a new feeder lift.

Karl Dirnhofer, Technical Director of the Bavarian Zugspitzbahn, explains the details.

Accordingly, in the area of ​​the current Zugbringer lift in the direction of Kreuzeck, about 50 meters after the crossroads, a

route will be built parallel to the existing path to

the west.

This creates a separate driveway with a slight gradient at the entrance of the lift.

This reduces the risk of collision for skiers.

The new ski path, i.e. the access to the lift access, is planned to be six meters wide, the existing ski path will be widened by two meters.

A conveyor belt, which partly runs in the tunnel, will replace the current rope lift,

but its route will change slightly, primarily to improve the unfavorable crossing situation (ski path from the Kreuzeckhaus towards the Längenfelder lift versus the rope lift exit).

The entrance to the conveyor belt will be roughly at the existing entrance to the rope lift.

For the skier, this means: they keep to the left of the valley, step onto the conveyor belt and drive under the current ski path.

The exit is upstream and is on the right hand side of the Hexenkessel slope in the direction of Kreuzalm.

The tunnel construction includes a 45 meter long gallery

(open on one side on the Garmisch-Partenkirchen valley side)

and a 45 meter tunnel that runs under the ski path

.

(kat)

By the way: Everything from the region is now also available in our new, regular GAP newsletter.

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2021-04-06

You may like

Trends 24h

News/Politics 2024-03-28T06:04:53.137Z

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.