The newly opened gondola now links Lech and Warth, significantly expanding the valley’s skiing area. It also opens access to Warth’s exceptional snow record: almost 11 metres (36ft) each winter – three times that which falls in St Anton, and more bountiful even than in Lech. For intrepid intermediate skiers or powder-seekers, the new link makes the Arlberg valley only more rewarding.

The Auenfeldjet is a two-kilometre long lift starting at the upper station of the Weibermahd chairlift in Lech, crossing the Auenfeld pass to the Geissbühel Alpe creating a link between Lech-Zürs and the resorts of Warth-Schröcken – adding another 64km of piste to the Lech-Zürs ski area.

With the opening of this new cable-car, the largest skiing area in Vorarlberg with a total of 47 ski-lifts and cable-cars and 190 kilometres of piste has been created. Adding the ski area of St Anton, St. Christoph and Stuben, the range of facilities is even larger: 94 lifts and cable-cars and 340 kilometres of piste. This places the Arlberg on level with the largest ski resorts in the world and increases the diversity for all winter sports enthusiasts.

This cable-car will be built with utmost care for the environment: trees and the high-alpine vegetation will be preserved, water and source protection areas will not be interfered with. Any intervention with the natural landscape is restricted to the construction itself. Since no new ski pistes or access to slopes will be created, the animal world will not be disturbed in its existing habitat. The cable-car itself will feature just a few high pylons at the western edge of the Auenfeld. There is also a positive side effect in that the existing 30 kV power line crossing the Auenfeld has disappeared from the landscape and was re-laid underground in the cable-car’s cable ditch. For this reason, the Auenfeldjet project is also referred to as a prime example of a non-invasive transport link.

For more details and 3D views on the new cable-car see www.auenfeldjet.at