Sonnwendjoch (Kramsach)
A Tyrolean mountain railway carrying two of the last Wopfner single-seat chairlifts in existence, stopped abruptly in 2014 when renovation proved unaffordable; after a decade of failed revival attempts, dismantling is now settled.
- Region
- Tyrol
- Country
- Austria
- Status
- abandoned
- Year opened
- 1968
- Year closed
- 2014
- Reason for closure
- The 1968 installation could not meet numerous current technical regulations and standards, and bringing it up to them would have been an open-ended financial burden. Operation ended abruptly in 2014 when the renovation project failed. A subsequent scheme for a replacement lift was rejected outright because it could not be financed.
History
The Sonnwendjochbahn climbed from Kramsach in the Tyrolean Inn valley into the Rofan massif, and it mattered to lift historians for a particular reason: its two sections were among the very last single-seat chairlifts built by the Austrian manufacturer Wopfner still standing anywhere. The upper section dated from 1968. By the 2010s the installation could not satisfy the technical rules it was required to meet, and renovation was judged an endless financial burden, so operation stopped abruptly in 2014. Kramsach then spent years fighting for a replacement. The project - promoted as the Naturjuwel Rofan scheme - was finally rejected because it could not be financed, the local press writing of enormous disappointment and describing the Sonnwendjochbahn as being buried. Efforts to revive the ailing mountain railway have been permanently discontinued and dismantling is now settled. Piste names and the specification of the lower section are not documented in accessible sources; the coordinates mark the Vorderes Sonnwendjoch summit.
Lifts
| Name | Type | Manufacturer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sonnwendjoch I | Chairlift - Single | Wopfner | One of the two single-seat sections of the Sonnwendjochbahn, among the last Wopfner single chairlifts anywhere. Out of use since 2014 and due to be dismantled |
| Sonnwendjoch II | Chairlift - Single | Wopfner | The upper section, built 1968; closed since 2014 and due to be dismantled |
Sources and further reading
- https://www.skiresort.info/ski-resort/kramsach/ski-lifts/l1056/
- https://chronik-kramsach.at/articles/164
- https://www.meinbezirk.at/kufstein/c-lokales/die-sonnwendjochbahn-wird-begraben_a1902108
- https://www.meinbezirk.at/kufstein/c-lokales/endgueltiges-aus-fuer-liftprojekt-naturjuwel-rofan_a6200726
- https://www.fischundfleisch.com/grexi/sonnwendjochbahnen-die-letzten-beiden-wopfner-einersessellifte-5260
More in Austria
Location
47.4447, 11.8011