Gerlos in Austria: The cable car operators and ski school have expanded the children’s and beginners’ area with SunKid!

El Dorado for beginning skiers in the Zillertal Arena!

With 166 kilometres of pistes and 51 lifts, the Zillertal Arena skiing region offers guests and locals the ultimate in skiing fun. A total of eight ski schools in the Zillertal Arena are especially dedicated to children and beginners. In order to meet their demands, major investments were made in Gerlos before the 2008/09 winter season. The cable car operators have expanded their existing beginners’ area with a 177 m SunKid Wonder Carpet. In addition, Michi´s Ski School expanded its children’s area with two additional SunKid conveyor belts (51 m and 12 m) and two SunKid Rotondo Ski/Tubing carousels, as well as creating a new hotel ski school at the Familyresort Hotel Almhof with two 12 m Wonder Carpets. From children to beginners, Gerlos is the best place to be!

: The expanded beginners’ area at the Isskogel cable car station with three SunKid Wonder Carpets. © SunKid

Conveyor belt replaces rope tow

An ideal beginners’ area is available at the Isskogel cable car station. Guests and ski schools were able to use 33 m and 129 m conveyor belts to ascend. An existing rope tow was used only infrequently in the past due to the new conveyor belts. For this reason, the cable car operators decided to replace this rope tow with a conveyor belt ascension aid at the request of the ski schools.

The new SunKid Wonder Carpet is 177 m long and is powered by a 22 KW motor. The operators decided on the “Blue Eye” conveyor belt surface developed by SunKid. The combination of a hard natural rubber base conveyor and soft vulcanised spots ensure the greatest adhesion and resistance to cold temperatures of up to -40 degrees Celsius. In addition, the Gerlos cable car operators installed the patented SunKid “Radius” side exit. The reason for this was that the shutdown of the conveyor could be minimised, something which is only possible due to the SunKid side exit design. In the exit area, the switch off flap and the light barrier are replaced by a safety gate.

Michi´s Ski School forges ahead

In addition to the cable car operators in Gerlos, Michi´s Ski School is also making investments to expand existing service. Ski school owner Michael Staudacher has installed a total of four new conveyor belts before the 2008/09 winter season. Of primary importance was the expansion of the children’s area with a 51 m and 12 m Wonder Carpet and two SunKid Rotondos. In addition, a new site was opened at the Familyresort Hotel Almhof near the entrance to the village of Gerlos. The two 12 m SunKid Wonder Carpet conveyor belts make it easier for the smallest of children to take their first steps toward skiing.

In Gerlos, SunKid was able to impress its clients with its years of experience, competence, and quality and shares the operators’ enthusiasm over the successful projects.