Klínovec – ski area in the orange look

Taking off after privatization

In 1991, that is soon after the transition to democracy in the former Czechoslovakia, the ski area was privatized. Since then, the operating company has made a consistent effort to modernize and gradually upgrade the area. The construction in 2011 of the first quad chairlift with orange-tinted bubbles by the name of Centrální (CineStar Express) – the first chairlift with weather covers in the Czech Republic – was the subject of a report in ISR 3/2012 (p. 26-27). This was followed in 2014 by a second, identical quad chairlift with orange bubbles, namely the Jáchymov – Klínovec (Prima Express), which was built as a replacement for the old single chairlift. A 400 m extension of the line in the direction of the valley to a car park for 600 cars and thus closer to the spa town of Jáchymov also created a second entry point to the ski area and significantly reduced travel time for visitors from the Czech Republic (see ISR’s 5 Country Special 2015, p. 14-16). This ropeway operates all year round, providing access to the 3 km long slope with 480 m of vertical in winter and 67 km of mountain bike trails in summer. Four downhill trails, from the easy 10.3 km Azur trail to the difficult 5.2 km trail, start at the top and end at the bottom station of the chairlift.

Third identical type of chairlift

Following an upgrade to the popular blue trail, the fixed-grip triple chairlift was no longer equal to requirements in terms of transport capacity and the quality of the ride. Although consideration was initially given to replacing the chairlift with a more efficient pre-owned installation, it was finally decided to build a completely new ropeway. And since the two orange chairlifts had already become iconic for the Klínovec ski area, it was only natural that the third detachable chairlift should also be designed with orange-tinted bubbles. The stations in the classic Uni-G look also match those of the lift’s two elder sisters. There is parking for all 80 chairs at the bottom station, with 30 on the turnaround and 50 on a parking rail located next to the station. The new ropeway, which has chairs with heated seats, reduces transit time by half, and transport capacity has been increased by 800 pph.

Construction work began in July 2019, and the ropeway went into service on December 14. In difficult terrain the towers were lifted into place by helicopter. The load and brake tests were not performed with canisters filled with water or sand as ballast, as is usual in the Alps; a total of 200 barrels of beer were used instead, as that is the tradition for ropeway testing in the Czech Republic. The author of this report was unfortunately not able to check whether all the beer barrels were still full when they arrived back at the brewery, as the ski area operator claims.