ArchiveTaking the Lift in the Shadow of Mont Blanc has
Never Been so Comfortable Thanks to SunKid
Nestled at the foot of Mont Blanc in the Aosta Valley, the ski area of La Thuile is one of the most highly developed ski areas in the whole of Italy. On peak days as many as 9,500 guests pack the resort which is also linked to the major ski area of La Rosiere in neighbouring France.
Until recently two pistes in the north of the resort were connected by nothing more than a 250m-long uphill trail which guests were forced to negotiate without the help of a lift, climbing in the process a total of 15 vertical metres.
SunKid Wonder Carpet at 2,200m
To save the resort’s guests this unnecessary effort and at the same time to increase the appeal of the connecting pistes, the management of the resort decided to install a SunKid Wonder Carpet conveyor to bridge this altitude difference.
Since the conveyor is located on a very exposed piece of terrain 2,200 metres above sea level, it was decided to cover the SunKid conveyor along its entire length with one of our tried and tested SunKid conveyor covers.
The installed SunKid Wonder Carpet conveyor has a total running length of 51m and has to overcome an extremely irregular terrain profile with an average gradient of 18 %.
Considering this uneven terrain and relatively steep gradient, it was decided to equip the conveyor with the tried and tested Blue Eye running surface to provide optimal traction on the conveyor.
SunKid Conveyor Cover with the Established Modular Construction
As mentioned, the extreme mix of concave and convex terrain profiles represents the greatest challenge for both the Wonder Carpet conveyor as well as the conveyor cover. It was here that the ingenious modular construction used in the conveyor cover really came into its own, providing a perfect solution to the problem.
The SunKid conveyor cover boasts an internal width of 1.8m and an internal height of 2.2m.
The basic skeleton of the conveyor cover is an aluminium construction which is then filled out with high-grade transparent panes made out of polycarbonate. Furthermore, the cover is equipped with 1.2 metre-wide openings located on both sides of the cover every 1.8 metres. Both these side-openings as well as the exit and entry areas of the conveyor can be sealed with a roll-down door made out of hardwearing PVC.
The installation of the SunKid conveyor cover was particularly welcomed by the lift attendants working in La Thuile since it significantly reduces the maintenance and snow-clearing required on a day-to-day basis. The guests themselves appreciate not only the increased comfort offered by the cover, but also the excellent protection from wind, cold and all varieties of precipitation.
Furthermore, a pleasing side-effect of the new conveyor is the way it optically enriches the ski area. Curious about the new facility, guests travelling over the conveyor on chair lifts often crane their necks to get a good look at the Wonder Carpet facility