Before the installation of the new conveyors, the resort’s younger guests had to rely on a converted piste-grooming machine to transport them to the top lift station and the nearby children’s restaurant while parents, grandparents and ski instructors were forced to walk up the slope to meet them at the top. This situation was, on the one hand, extremely inefficient in terms of the time, personnel and maintenance required to transport a relatively small number of guests per hour and, on the other hand, not especially comfortable for all those involved. Since, however, the comfort of the resort’s guests is the number one priority of the management team in Serfaus, those responsible for the lift infrastructure in the resort used the summer break to consider possible solutions to this problem.

The challenge was to transport 2000 guests per hour safely and swiftly the 500 m from the top station of the “Komperdellbahn” lift, the nearby restaurants, the ski school office and the ski rental shop to different areas of the children’s ski area and back, thereby overcoming a total of difference in altitude of 80 vertical metres. The logistical solution chosen should ensure that everyone and everything, be it skiers, snowboarders, pedestrians, parents with buggies, disabled guests or toboggans, can be transported over this distance.   Due to the fact that the slope is used for grazing cattle in the summer, the lift facility must be able to be taken apart at the end of each winter and reassembled again ready for the start of the new season. Furthermore, it was not possible to use permanent concrete foundations for this facility.

2007-01-08