Engelberg_Magazin_No_15

Visualisierung der Talsta- tion und der Bergstatio- nen Trübsee und Stand. Visualisations of the valley station and the Trübsee and Stand mountain stations

Die Bauarbeiten für die neue Gondelbahn zwischen Engelberg und Stand wurden im Frühjahr 2014 in Angriff genommen. Construction work for the new gondola lift connecting Engelberg and Stand has been underway since spring 2014.

A dark and jagged, lonely place, / Is Engelberg’s rugged face, / A wicked, wild and craggy form, / Against the pale, pure dawn / […] Opposite, in silver guise / The Titlis, reigning o’er the skies When Zurich poet and novelist Conrad Ferdinand Meyer published his epic poem “Engelberg” in 1872 it quick ly became a huge literar y hit. It embodied a yearning for the sublime grandeur of the mountains that peo- ple still seek to this day. The poem inspired increasing numbers of travellers to pay a

– cut ting today’s journey time in ha lf. At a leng th of a lmost 4 ,700 metres, div ided into two sec tions, this new facility will be one of the longest aeria l cableways in Switzerland. A tota l of 160 eight-seater cars will transpor t guests in both direc tions. And the journey will a lso become more convenient for passengers. The doors of the cable cars will be on a level with the f loor at the stations, making it much easier for guests to embark and disembark – especia lly those with prams or wheelchairs. And there will be another improve-

v isit to the Titlis in its “silver guise”. And thus there were ca lls to erec t a cableway up the mountain. From 1912 onwards, cableways were construc ted that gradua lly crept f ur ther up towards the

ment too: As group tour- ism to the Titlis increased, two worlds collided on the Trübsee–Stand cableway. One the one hand there were the tourists, with ver y lit- tle baggage; on the other

In the future, it will be possi- ble to travel from Engelberg to the Stand in just 18 minutes.

peak, until the aeria l cableway a ll the way up to K lein Titlis was f ina lly opened in 1967. The f ur ther increase in the number of v isitors over the past 50 years has a lso led to an increased demand for comfor table, convenient travel. The facilities have thus been continu- a lly expanded and adapted. One high light in this series of construc tion projec ts was the cable car f rom Engelberg to Gerschnia lp and on to Trübsee, which was f inished in 1984 and made v isiting the Titlis much easier. But af ter a lmost 30 years, even this star of mountain transpor tation had aged a lit tle, and the time seemed right for some redevelopment. So instead of simply replacing the ex isting cable car, the loca l cableway company decided to erec t a new line direc tly f rom Engelberg to Trübsee and on to the Stand, a solution that took current and f uture needs into account and turned a long-held dream into rea lity. In the f uture, it will be possible to travel f rom Engelberg to the Stand in just 18 minutes

there were the skiers with a ll their equip- ment. This meant that on sunny days in winter, the cars were rather cramped. On top of that, the 2,000 metre dif ference in elevation cre- ated problems for some passengers: hav ing to stand for a relatively long time in the cars f rom Trübsee was uncomfor table for those struggling to cope with the thin air. From nex t year, guests travelling in sma ll groups will be able to sit comfor tably on the trip to the Stand. From there, the Rotair will bring them quick ly up to the Titlis over the glacier. Construc tion of the new cableway commenced in spring 2014. Despite a wet summer, work has proceeded apace, so that guests to Engelberg will be able to v isit the Titlis and reign comfor tably “o’er the skies” f rom the 2015/15 winter season.

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