There is a common thread running through much of this winter’s investment. Resorts are not necessarily adding vast amounts of new terrain; instead, they are concentrating on getting more people around existing ski areas quicker and more comfortably.
Eight and ten person lifts are replacing elderly chairs and gondolas, bottlenecks are being tackled and resorts are experimenting with more flexible ways of selling their mountains.
Millions of euros are being spent across the Alps on faster lifts, greater capacity and changes designed to make getting around the mountains easier.
Here is a selection of historic lifts that are being replaced by new lifts this winter. We will let you know about others as news reaches us.
Ischgl, Austria
Another old chairlift bites the dust
Ischgl’s impressive programme of replacing some of its hardest-working lifts continues this winter with the arrival of the new Höllkarbahn C2.
The detachable eight-seater chair replaces the existing Höllkarbahn and comes with heated seats and weather-protection bubbles.
The new chair can carry up to 4,200 people an hour, with the journey taking just over five minutes.
It is part of a €50 million modernisation programme in the Silvretta Arena that has also seen the Höllboden and Sassgalun chairs replaced.
Galtür, Austria
Old chairlift gets a second life
Perhaps the most unusual new lift story of the winter comes from Galtür, a neighbour of Ischgl in Austria’s Paznaun Valley.
While Ischgl is spending heavily on a brand-new eight-seater Höllkarbahn, its former Höllkar chairlift isn’t bound for the scrapyard.
Instead, it has been dismantled, comprehensively overhauled and technically modified before being reassembled a few miles down the valley at Silvapark Galtür.
Reborn as the Kopsseebahn, the detachable six-seater chair replaces the two Kopssee I and II drag lifts for winter 2026/27.
The new chair has weather-protection bubbles and will carry around 2,400 passengers an hour. Its 1,125-metre route climbs from 1,827 metres to 2,144 metres and will have 56 chairs.
Galtür has another change for winter 2026/27. The resort is promoting a new piste No.15, Seeblickabfahrt, together with an extension of piste No.18, Erlebnisabfahrt Bärental.
Chamonix, France
Grands Montets begins its comeback
It has been a long wait, but skiers heading for Chamonix this winter will finally see the first major stage in the rebirth of the famous Grands Montets ski area.
A new 10-person Argentière-Lognan gondola is scheduled to open for the Christmas 2026 holidays, linking the two areas and restoring the principal access route following the devastating fire of September 2018 which destroyed the former cable-car stations.
The new lift is part of a much bigger reconstruction of Grands Montets, one of the best-known high-altitude ski areas in the French Alps. The redevelopment has also given Lognan new food, drink, and toilet facilities.
The second stage – a new 3S cable car running from Lognan towards the Grands Montets summit at more than 3,000 metres – is not expected to open until winter 2027/28.
The reopening of the Argentière–Lognan link represents a significant milestone for Chamonix, eight years after the fire dramatically interrupted lift access to one of its most celebrated mountains.
Montgenèvre, France
A gondola that virtually drives itself
Montgenèvre is introducing two new gondolas for 2026/27 – and one comes with an interesting technological first for this part of France.
The new Fournéous gondola is the first in the Southern French Alps to use Doppelmayr’s AURO autonomous operation system. The technology allows the lift to operate without an attendant permanently supervising the machinery in the stations, although staff will still be present to assist and advise passengers.
The Fournéous gondola replaces an elderly two-seater chairlift between approximately 2,137m and 2,572m. The improvement should be immediately noticeable with the journey time cut to around one-third of that of the old chairlift.
The gondola will be capable of carrying around 2,015 passengers an hour and provides access to the panoramic Combe du Loup piste as well as the more demanding Fournéous run.
Montgenèvre is also replacing its old six-person Chalvet gondola with a new 10-person Chalvet gondola, which is expected to halve the journey time. Both new lifts are due to be ready for the Christmas 2026 holiday period.
Further improvements to the high-altitude French-Italian connection are also planned, reinforcing Montgenèvre’s position as a French resort from which skiers and snowboarders can cross the border into another country.
Zermatt, Switzerland
Farewell to the resort’s oldest lift
Regular skiers and snowboarders visiting Zermatt may have developed a certain affection for the Patrullarve chairlift – although perhaps not for its speed.
After 37 years, the oldest lift in the Matterhorn Ski Paradise has been retired and replaced by a modern six-seater chair.
The new Patrullarve chairlift serves the Sunnegga-Blauherd sector and has a capacity of around 3,200 passengers an hour.
Progress is, of course, a good thing but it is still a bit sad that another little piece of Alpine lift nostalgia has disappeared.
Kronplatz, Italy
Major investment in getting skiers and snowboarders uphill
The Dolomiti Superski area has 14 new lifts for the 2026/27 ski season. One of the biggest upgrades is at Kronplatz – Plan de Corones, where the important Kronplatz 1 and 2 lifts from Reischach/Riscone are being replaced by modern 10-person gondola cabins. The two-stage lift system will be capable of carrying around 3,250 people an hour.
Kronplatz is also getting a new eight-person Dolomiti chairlift, while new pistes named Lumen and Dolomiti are due to open.
The scale of continuing investment in the Dolomites is another reason Italy is becoming more attractive to British skiers and snowboarders.
Hintertux, Austria
40-year-old gondola heads into retirement
High above the Tux Valley, the old four-seater gondola between Sommerberg and the Tuxer Fernerhaus at Hintertux Glacier has been carrying skiers for more than 40 years. It is being replaced by a more comfortable 10-seater gondola.
For skiers and snowboarders heading onto Hintertux’s high-altitude and glacier terrain, it means more space, greater comfort, and a much more modern journey up the mountain.
St Johann In Tirol, Austria
Goodbye to a 45-year-old chairlift
There will be a major improvement for skiers at St Johann in Tirol this winter when a new 10-person Jodlalm gondola replaces a two-seater chairlift dating back to 1981.
The new gondola follows a modified route and continues higher than its predecessor, taking passengers directly to the Harschbichl at 1,603m. The old chair stopped at Jodlalm, and the change will improve connections with the surrounding piste network as well as removing what the resort admits had become a bottleneck.
The new lift will carry up to 2,400 people an hour, with a journey time of around seven minutes. Young children couldn’t travel unaccompanied on the old two-seater chair, whereas the enclosed gondola cabins will make life much easier for families and ski schools.
It’s a substantial investment for a relatively modest-sized ski area – the entire project is estimated to cost around €22 million.
To find out about the ski areas mentioned above, and the vast choice of other ski resorts and accommodation available through Ski Line, talk to the experts by using the contact details below or the online chat facility. You will find these contact details on the Ski Line website.
Chat with our experts
Thinking about skiing this winter? Give us a call, tell us when you want to travel, who’s coming and roughly what you’d like to spend, and we’ll help you find somewhere that gets the balance of snow reliability, skiing and value right.
020 8313 3999