Things are going well in the Sudelfeld ski area.
If the weather is right, so are the visitor numbers.
If it turns out to be a lucrative winter, the mountain railway company could consider further modernization steps – smaller ones and a really big one.
Bayrischzell – As is well known, the modernization of the Sudelfeld ski area has been underway for years.
A lot has gotten better, but some circumstances have thrown Bergbahnen Sudelfeld GmbH back a little.
Dispute with tendril lift operator: Nothing has progressed
The most obvious blemish remains the standstill of the Rankenlift, which is fixed in the overview plan and marked as "not part of the ski pass association".
Bergbahnen Managing Director Egid Stadler has given up trying to reach an agreement with the owner.
“We tried everything on all levels.
It will take a generation change.” Until then, two beautiful descents remain unusable.
There are more lifts, but the ski area works without them
The Middle Sudelfeld lift is also not in operation, and has been for a few years.
According to Stadler, Bergbahn-GmbH was unable to continue leasing the lift - the same applies to the slab lift right next to it - or not on acceptable terms.
If the owner, a community of heirs, sells the property, this could possibly pave the way for the lift to run again – and for the slope to receive “absolutely necessary snowmaking”, according to Stadler.
Incidentally, this has already been approved in the course of previous modernization rounds.
Snowmaking planned for other slopes
The same applies to one or the other slope that skiers or snowboarders use to reach the valley station of the Schöngrat three-seater chairlift.
The last time the lift was unable to operate was precisely because there was no snowmaking.
Stadler hopes that this could change again soon thanks to the weather conditions.
Thanks to the many variants that lead to the valley station, the Schöngratbahn is a "popular facility, even if a three-seater chair is not ideal, there are a lot of couples on the go".
The construction of the snowmaking systems in this part of the ski area could be the next step on the road to modernization - if things go well next year.
Mind you: the ski area works even without the facilities mentioned.
There are enough slopes at Sudelfeld.
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Bold plans: In addition to the nostalgic suspension lift, will the steep Rosengasse lift also be replaced by a large mountain railway?
The current plans at Sudelfeld provide for this.
The train should start somewhere in the valley near Bayrischzell and then lead down to Rosengasse with an intermediate station at Oberen Sudelfeld.
A car-free Sudelfeld would thus be possible.
However, the vision is still in its infancy.
© Map: Bavarian Surveying Administration/Graphic: dak
The big hit would be a mountain railway from Bayrischzell to Obere Sudelfeld and down to Rosengasse
The big hit - especially with regard to summer use - would be a new cable car from Bayrischzell, which would replace the suspension lift. One thing is clear: it cannot run on the current route, that already fails at the place at the valley station. The bold plans to start a railway in the center of Bayrischzell - presented three years ago in the municipal council - met with such fierce resistance in the village that Stadler quickly rejected it. The GmbH, in which the municipality is also a shareholder, is currently considering a solution that is no less daring: a train from Bayrischzell to Oberen Sudelfeld and back down to Rosengasse, with an intermediate station in the area of the current mountain station of the Rosengasse lift. This old tractor, which now belongs to the mountain railway company, would be dismantled.
It is still unclear whether the plans will work
The planning of such a track, which would hover high above the piste or alpine pasture, will inevitably attract critics.
This is also clear to Stadler, who has plenty of experience with resistance – just think of the reservoir.
At the moment, the idea of a train over the mountain is still a pipe dream.
"We still have to talk to the cable car planners about whether that's possible or not," says Stadler.
The question of costs will also inevitably arise - and in this context also to what extent the Free State would still like to promote mountain railways.
However, Stadler and his colleagues are willing to continue working on the idea, which also includes negotiations with landowners.
It is not even clear where exactly the valley station would be.
However, Stadler makes something else clear: There will be no new runway assigned to the railway.
"You can't bring that," he says.
But it would also mean that there would have to be a shuttle from the end of the Sauhöll descent at the suspension lift to the new valley station.
Another vision: a car-free Sudelfeld
One of the most charming aspects of the cable car idea, however, is the vision of a car-free Sudelfeld in summer.
A concept for the use of the highly developed alpine area is available (we reported).
However, it stands or falls with a new mountain railway.