Industry News
The Corviglia Ski Area above St. Moritz, Switzerland, will feature two lift upgrades for the upcoming season. The old Randolins chair will be replaced with a new six-chair, while the Lej-da-la-Pêsch chair is receiving a technical update, including new chairs. Corviglia St. Moritz also added a second artificial lake for the purpose of snow making up high in the ski area, which enables energy-efficient snow making without having to pump up groundwater or lake water from down the valley.
- Related: Opening Dates for all IKON Resorts
The old Randolins quad-chair has been replaced with a new state-of-the-art six-chair by Italian ski lift manufacturer Leitner Poma. The installation of the new lift started in April and was completed in mid-October. The quick replacement was made possible by the fact that nine of the old 15 towers could be reused. The upgrade from a four to a six chair, along with an increase in speed from five meters per second to six meters per second, has boosted the hourly capacity from previously 1,500 people per hour to now 2,400 people per hour.
The new bottom and top stations have moved slightly, but, more importantly, can store all the chairs overnight, and feature an autonomous guiding system. The new chairs are comfortably padded and are embroidered with the St. Moritz sun logo. The station’s building has arrays of solar cells powering the lift system.
Meanwhile, the Lej-da-la-Pêsch chair was not newly built, but modernized. In addition to the technical renewal of the control system, new upholstered chairs were installed. Thanks to the upgrade, the chair can operate at a higher capacity, making wait times shorter in the bowl below Piz Nair. The chair will not have a bubble to reduce the overall weight. The benefit of dropping the bubble is that the chair can operate in higher winds. The upgrade ensures that the lift system can run for another 20 years.
Corviglia is one of several ski resorts on the Engadin St. Moritz ski pass. Corviglia is situated above the village of St. Moritz, while the ski area across on the other side of the valley is known as Corvatsch. Just a few minutes towards the Bernina pass is the Diavolezza/Lagalb ski area, while another few smaller resorts are all within 20 minutes reach. Engadin St. Moritz joined the IKON pass last season, offering pass holders five to seven days of skiing—depending on pass product—at any of the Engadin St. Moritz resorts.
- Related: Introducing the Resorts Added to the IKON Pass with the Addition of Engadin St. Moritz, Switzerland
The Upper Engadin Valley is a 50-mile (80km) long valley located in the southeast corner of Switzerland on the border to Italy at an altitude of 5,540 feet (1,660 meters) to 5,955 feet (1,815 meters). The valley features several picturesque villages dotted with lakes, which attract people year-round for hiking, kite surfing, sailing, sledding, ice skating, cross-country skiing, and alpine skiing/snowboarding. The valley is littered with several peaks, the highest of which is Piz Bernina, at 13,284 feet (4,049 meters). The highest lifted point in the valley is Piz Corvatsch, at 10,837 feet (3,303 meters), while Corviglia ski area extends to a peak height of 10,030 feet (3,057 meters), offering 4,278 feet (1,304 meters) of vertical.
