Sunkid – innovative logistic solutions in the Zillertal
In cooperation with Mayrhofner Bergbahnen and Zillertaler Gletscherbahnen, the Tyrolean company Sunkid was able to install two innovative lift systems for the winter season in the ski-region Zillertal 3000 - the Horberg Shuttle and the Mini-Lift.
The Horberg Shuttle transports skiers and pedestrians from the Horbergtal base area to the mountain station of the Horbergerbahn lift using Wonder Carpet conveyors. This connection allows guests to bridge a distance totalling 60 vertical metres in a modern and extremely comfortable way.
On busy days up to 750 snow lovers used to drag themselves up 60 vertical metres at the end of a great day’s skiing to reach the Horbergbahn from where they could travel back down into the valley. The operators of the lift facilities in Mayrhofen were of course all too aware of this deficiency and had long been looking for a comfortable way to bridge this gap. After having intensively investigated several different possible solutions to this problem, technical head of the Mayrhofen Bergbahnen Andreas Rauch and his team opted for a conveyor system to bridge the gap.
Today two Sunkid Wonder Carpets measuring 54m and 60m respectively now transport all winter sports fans comfortably up to the mountain station. The busiest days see up to 4,700 people transported. Almost 90% of these guests use the installation late in the afternoon between 2.30 and 4.30pm!
The installation is supervised by a lift attendant who is placed between the two conveyors, giving him an excellent view of both. The heads of the Mayrhofer Bergbahnen are already planning on installing a third Sunkid Wonder Carpet conveyor for next year to close the last 50m gap which remains. They are also considering expanding all of the installations to a bi-directional service which would allow pedestrians and beginners to be brought up the mountain in the morning and back down into the valley during the day.
Some of the reasons for choosing a Sunkid Wonder Carpet conveyor:
SUNKID Wonder Carpet – technical specifications Generation 9, length 1x54m and 1x60m, chain model
Since the winter of 2001/2002 the revolutionary’150er Tux’ lift has linked the ski-regions of Penken/Mayrhofen and Rastkogel/Tux. On the way back to Mayrhofen skiers and snowboarders have to make their way down a pleasant but quite long red run. However an additional use of the 150er Tux is to transport tired ski-freaks and those less confident on the piste back down to Mayrhofen. Until now however this involved skiers crossing a roughly 150m long strech, climbing a total of 25 vertical metres in the process. The installation of the Mini-Lift, a Bruckschlögl Swiss Cord, means that from this season onwards guests can tackle this stretch quickly and comfortably.
A very specialised lift system was required to keep the maintenance and service requirements to a minimum on this extremely wind exposed terrain at 2,450m above sea level. The Swiss Cord lift system fulfils all of the necessary requirements thanks to
These factors enable the installation to be adjusted to suit the height of the snow and also facilitate the preparation of the lift tracks by piste machines.
With this Swisscord the security measures at the exit zone received particularly close attention. Bruckschlögl managed to come up with a most impressive solution for this area too, the ‘Faltenbalg’ safety system. A small plastic disc is mounted at the front end of the drive mechanism, through which the lift cable runs before entering the lift station. A curve-shaped lever system arches over the rubber bellows of the Faltenbag system, connecting the plastic disc at the front of the bellows to the lift station. If this disc is pushed back towards the lift station by an object attached to the cable the lever bends, automatically triggering a safety system with the cable having travelled a maximum of 55mm and the drive mechanism is stopped. The length of the rubber bellows is calculated according to the stopping distance provided by the installation.
The installation is controlled and supervised indirectly using a video surveillance system with a radio also making two-way communication possible. This saves on personnel costs and increases the speed with which the installation pays for both its initial construction and regular running costs. A further special feature on the Bruckschlögl Swisscord rope lift are the rubber grips on the cord which, mounted at 9m intervals, offer guests a simple and effective way of gripping onto the lift.
2005-03-14
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