This is surely one of the most famously renowned parts of the Alps. Located only 17 km from the capital of South Tyrol is the region of Seis am Schlern, from where the 4,300m long Panorama Gondola runs to the plateau at Schlern. This is the starting point for 22 ski lifts which bring guests to 58 km of downhill skiing.  These figures quickly fall in to the background, if one considers that the Seiser Alm belongs to the number one ski carousel “Dolomiti Superski” in the world with approximately 1,220 km of ski run available.

Two Sunkid Wonder Carpets as Conveyors

In time for the winter season of 2005/06, the Tyrolean conveyor belt specialists installed two new wonder carpets with a theoretical conveyor capacity of 2,800 people which serve as transport to the “Laurin“ chairlift.

The first Sunkid wonder carpet in Italy has been in operation for the past nine years and is situated in the same village. After investing more than 11,000 business hours, coupled with the rapid development of tourism in the region, it was necessary to increase the capacity of people which the old conveyor could carry from 960 to 2800 with the two new wonder carpets. Both belts are installed parallel, resting next to each other and are about 48m in length and able to achieve an average gradient of up to 18%. The system is powered by an 11 KW motor. The conveyor belts employ the use of the well tried and tested “Blue Eye” system.

These two parallel wonder carpet conveyors have a theoretical capacity for 2,800 guests per hour. Light maintenance and cleaning is undertaken in the purpose built snow shafts underneath the power station which also incorporates heating and drainage. As an added feature, the two installations were fitted with an automatic restart mechanism which would become operational if the switch box situated at the top station were to shut down. The belt tensioning system takes place over a hydraulic tensioning drum at the bottom station.

No need for supervisory staff

Both Wonder Carpets are monitored by a video system which is always at the disposal of those using the “Laurin” chair lift. The video system works by one camera closely monitoring the top station where skiers disembark and the other monitoring the conveyor belt in its entirety. In utilising such a system, both belts can be monitored constantly which eliminates the need for full time supervisory staff.

2006-02-16