Arosa mountain railways

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Arosa Bergbahnen AG

logo
legal form Corporation
Seat Arosa , Switzerland
management Philipp Holenstein ( CEO ), Lorenzo Schmid ( Chairman of the Board )
Number of employees 275
sales 15.4 million CHF
Branch Transport, tourism
Website www.arosabergbahnen.ch

The Arosa Bergbahnen AG is a Swiss transport service - and tourism businesses . Its activities are currently focused on the Arosa holiday region in Schanfigg , Canton of Graubünden, and include the two areas of mountain railway operation and gastronomy . The company's share capital is currently CHF 12.5 million. The majority of the shares are in the hands of the people of Arosa as well as the municipality of Arosa and Arosa Tourismus .

Field of activity

Arosa Bergbahnen AG owns all public transport facilities in Arosa. This includes two cable cars , two gondola lifts , five chairlifts , four ski lifts and some treadmills . The Tschuggen Express operated by the Tschuggen Grand Hotel does not belong to Arosa Bergbahnen AG . The company maintains 70 km of prepared ski slopes . The second important mainstay is the gastronomy area, which comprises a total of four mountain railway-owned restaurants and three snow bars .

history

Share in AG Autobus und Skiliftanlagen Arosa on July 21, 1938; Overstamped with the new company name "AG Aroser Verkehrsbetriebe"
Headquarters of the Arosa Bergbahnen at Arosa train station

After an initiative committee tried in vain to build a railway on the Tschuggen in 1928, Autotram AG was founded on December 12, 1930 , which, with a concession from the Federal Post Office Directorate, operated winter buses between the Hotel Alexandra at Obersee (later Maran ) and the hotel Kulm in Innerarosa. After the implementation of the first three ski lifts on Tschuggen, Carmenna and Weisshorn , the company's name was changed to AG Autobus and Skiliftanlagen Arosa .

In 1945 the Hörnlilift was built , the longest ski lift in Switzerland at the time, which was expanded in 1948 to a combined ski lift-chairlift system. With regard to the Arosa-Weisshorn aerial cableway (LAW / Weisshornbahn) built in 1956/57, it was renamed AG Aroser Verkehrsbetriebe (AVB) in 1954 . In 1960 the Prätschli ski lift (today: Tomeli ) was built, and in 1963 the Arosa-Hörnli aerial cableway (LAH / Hörnlibahn) was built.

In the decades that followed, various other ski lifts and chairlifts were built and some of them have since been dismantled or replaced by more modern systems. Special mention should be made of the Ried-Krähentschuggen four-seater chairlift built in 1985, the first detachable chairlift of this size in Switzerland and the construction of the Hörnli Express - a six -person gondola lift to replace the LAH - in 1987. In 1973, the AVB built the FIS descent route from the Weisshorn summit to the Bergkirchli (length 3350 meters, difference in altitude 750 meters). In 1990 the company received its current company, Arosa Bergbahnen AG . In 1992 the LAW was replaced by a modern new building.

In 1995 the valley station of the Weisshornbahn was redesigned and the new administration building for the Arosa Bergbahnen was built. In 1996 the snowboard fun park on Tschuggen was opened, where part of the snowboard world championships were held in 2007 . From 1996/97, Arosa Bergbahnen concentrated in particular on the creation of snow-making systems at various locations. After the Hörnli area was unsuitable as a location for a corresponding reservoir, one was realized in 2008 on the Sattelalp , above the Hinteren Hütte .

Carmenna and Weisshorn chairlift , two traditional key points of the Arosa ski area, in front on the right the Bergkirchli

In October 2010, Arosa Bergbahnen AG received the SwissMountain Award, "Special Prize for Design and Architecture", for the Carmenna chairlift from the Swiss Cable Car Association (SBS) .

In the “Best Ski Resort 2012” survey carried out among over 40,000 winter sports enthusiasts in the entire Alpine region, the Arosa Bergbahnen ski area was ranked eighth out of 55, making it the fourth best ski area in Switzerland and the best in Graubünden. In the 2014 edition with almost 48,000 respondents, it was even enough to take third place, without taking into account the regional connection with Lenzerheide.

In the ranking published by the Handelszeitung in 2015 , Arosa took second place out of a total of 30 Alpine destinations in the “Family ski areas” category.

In the summer of 2015, the Arosa Bergbahnen implemented a new snow-making system on the Hörnli for around CHF 2.5 million . Due to favorable meteorological conditions, the relevant runway No. 2 was put into operation early on October 31, 2015, earlier than ever before.

In 2016, the Arosa Bergbahnen are organizing a ten-month operation for the second time in a row (including activities in November).

Weisshorn summit restaurant

From 2007 the Arosa Bergbahnen planned to build a modern new mountain restaurant on the Weisshorn summit. However, the project by the architect Tilla Theus was particularly controversial in nature and landscape conservation circles. The critics advocated leaving the summit area undeveloped and instead upgrading the existing restaurant on the mountain flank. Due to various objection procedures, the construction work was suspended from July 2007 to spring 2011. The new building, which can accommodate 220 people, was opened on July 7, 2012. As part of the Interalpin 2013 cable car fair in Innsbruck , it was awarded the ISR Architecture Award for mountain restaurants excellent.

Arosa Lenzerheide ski area

For many years a project of a ski area connection with the Lenzerheide has been pursued. At the end of November 2011 this was approved by the electorate; the official opening of the 225 km winter sports arena took place on January 18, 2014.

In order to connect the ski areas, among other things, a double connecting lift was built from Hörnligrat to Urdenfürggli , the license of which is the Arosa Bergbahnen.

The cost of the so-called Urden Railway was estimated at around 20 million francs, but meteorological and geological difficulties caused costs to increase by around 10%. A supporting company, Urden AG, was founded for the implementation, in which the Arosa Bergbahnen, Lenzerheide Bergbahnen and Bergbahnen Tschiertschen are involved. The financing was secured by loans, guarantees and contributions from the public sector as well as by means of bank loans, which meant that Arosa Bergbahnen AG did not need to increase its capital.

The Urdenbahn has two cabins, each with a capacity of 150 people. The crossing from ridge to ridge takes around five minutes, including the waiting time in the stations. On the occasion of the German Design Awards 2015 given by the German Design Council, the system was named “Winner” in the “Transportation and Public Design” category from among 2,250 nominated products.

In May 2014, the ski area connection was awarded the SVSM Award 2014 by the jury of the Swiss Association for Location Management (SVSM) due to its high level of innovation for the Arosa – Lenzerheide region .

literature

  • Marcel Just, Christof Kübler, Matthias Noell (eds.): Arosa - Modernism in the mountains. gta Verlag, Zurich 2007, ISBN 978-3-85676-214-8 , p. 52 ff., 250 ff.
  • Arosa Bergbahnen AG (Ed.): Bergfahrt - 75 years of mountain railways in Arosa , Weber AG, Thun-Gwatt 2005, ISBN 3-909532-30-6 .
  • Arosa municipality (ed.): Arosa in a nutshell , Südostschweiz Print AG, Arosa 2005, pp. 16, 77.
  • Hans Danuser : Arosa - as it was then (1928–1946), vol. 3, self-published by Danuser, Arosa 1999, p. 163 ff.
  • Hans Danuser, Ruedi Homberger: Arosa und das Schanfigg, self-published by Danuser / Homberger, Arosa 1988, p. 44 ff.
  • Swiss Ski School Arosa (Ed.): 50 Years of the Swiss Ski School Arosa , Jona 1983, p. 54.
  • Fritz Maron: From mountain farming village to world health resort Arosa , Verlag F. Schuler, Chur 1934, pp. 134-136.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Patrick Gunti: Philipp Holenstein, CEO Arosa Bergbahnen AG. In: www.moneycab.com. February 4, 2015, accessed February 22, 2015 .
  2. ↑ Four Swiss locations in the top ten - Arosa at the top } Accessed April 7, 2020.
  3. ↑ Rankings of the top ski areas in over 20 categories. best-skiresorts.com, November 6, 2014, accessed November 8, 2014 .
  4. ↑ Switzerland on Sunday 9 November 2014, p. 39.
  5. ↑ Aroser Zeitung of November 28, 2014, p. 6 f.
  6. ↑ These are the alpine paradises for winter sports. (No longer available online.) Www.handelszeitung.ch, September 30, 2015, archived from the original on November 5, 2015 ; accessed on November 14, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.handelszeitung.ch
  7. ↑ Upgrading in the Alps. In: www.derbund.ch. November 5, 2015, accessed November 14, 2015 .
  8. ↑ Aroser Zeitung of June 17, 2016, p. 13.
  9. ↑ Aroser Zeitung of April 28, 2013, p. 9.
  10. ↑ Arosa – Lenzerheide on the home straight. Accessed on October 6, 2012.
  11. ↑ Hope rests on the connection with Arosa. Accessed November 4, 2012.
  12. ↑ Clear the way for one of the largest Swiss ski areas. Accessed on December 22, 2012.
  13. ↑ In five minutes from Arosa to Lenzerheide. In: www.suedostschweiz.ch. January 17, 2014, accessed January 17, 2014 .
  14. ↑ Lenzerheide and Arosa are moving closer. Accessed April 29, 2013.
  15. ↑ Media release from November 8, 2013 ( Memento of the original from November 9, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.arosalenzerheide.ch
  16. ↑ Aroser Zeitung of December 29, 2014, p. 13.
  17. ↑ SVSM Award for the Arosa – Lenzerheide ski area connection. (No longer available online.) In: www.bote.ch. May 21, 2014, archived from the original on June 5, 2014 ; accessed on June 1, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bote.ch