Oppheimsheisen
The oldest ski lift in Norway, a 1962 chairlift at Voss run profitably by seven volunteers, shut in 2019 not for want of money or snow but because the inspection rules changed.
- Region
- Vestland
- Country
- Norway
- Status
- abandoned
- Year opened
- 1962
- Year closed
- 2019
- Reason for closure
- A change to the inspection regime operated by the Norwegian Railway Authority made the lift almost impossible to run economically. The maintenance work newly required would have cost around 200,000 kroner, more than the volunteer operation could raise, even though it had been trading at a profit.
History
Oppheimsheisen stood at Oppheim in Voss, in Vestland, and its chairlift dated from 1962 - by the end, the oldest ski lift still running anywhere in Norway. About five years before it closed it had been bought by seven local enthusiasts who ran it as a volunteer operation, and it worked: in the peak season of 2017-18 it managed 50 operating days, took around 400,000 kroner and turned a profit of over 100,000. What stopped it was regulatory rather than financial or climatic. The inspection regime run by the Norwegian Railway Authority changed, and the maintenance work newly required would have cost about 200,000 kroner - beyond what a volunteer-run hill could find, however healthy its books. It closed in 2019, described locally as a day of mourning. Enthusiasts have since pressed to bring it back and Myrkdalen Fjellheiser commissioned a condition report to see whether operation could resume. It is a useful counter-example in this dataset: an area killed neither by snow nor by economics, but by the cost of compliance. Piste names and the lift specification are not documented in accessible sources.
Lifts
| Name | Type | Manufacturer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oppheimsheisen | Chairlift | Built in 1962 and, by the time it stopped, the oldest ski lift still operating in Norway. Bought about five years before the closure by seven local enthusiasts who ran it on a voluntary basis |
Sources and further reading
More in Norway
Location
60.7925, 6.5755