Click here for the blog of the new Hannigbahn project
Follow the construction work and keep up to date with the project development.
Where we are now
The licence to operate the current cableway expires in April 2023. The Hannig region is a very important tourist destination and local recreational area which is busy throughout the year. A survey conducted among people with second homes throughout the Saas Valley has revealed that the Hannigberg is the most significant destination of all. As a place of exploration and activity close to the village, it offers a key alternative to the classic skiing holiday and boasts the very best development opportunities for the future. The Saastal Bergbahnen company has expressed its willingness to rent the Hannigbahn for a long-term period, to cover the maintenance and operating costs and thereby to bear the commercial risk. To ensure that the Hannig, as a tourist destination, remains accessible by mountain railway in the future and the mountain’s potential can continue to be exploited and developed, it is now a question of securing the finance required.
Contact
Projekt Neubau Hannigbahn 2023
c/o Gemeinde Saas-Fee
Dorfplatz 8
3906 Saas-Fee
E-Mail: hannigbahn@3906.ch
Project presentation
In the evaluation phase, all the possible technical variants and line routes were scrutinised from various perspectives and their advantages and disadvantages analysed. In-depth analysis revealed that a monocable gondola lift with ten-seater gondolas following the current route will best meet the future requirements.
Why is this variant so convincing?
- The positioning of the Hannigberg as an alternative to the classic skiing holiday, with its high-quality tobogganing options, winter hiking and snowshoe trips, requires a central location with direct access from the village.
- Any further development of the summer activities will likewise require a central location for the best possible use of the existing infrastructure.
- The modern ten-seater gondolas, similar to those in use on the new Spielboden cableway, will meet guests’ stringent requirements in terms of comfort while also making it very easy and convenient to carry leisure items such as toboggans and bikes etc.
- The enormous significance of the Hannig for the local population, guests and owners of second homes likewise requires direct access from the village centre.
- Finally, there is a persuasive financial argument for this version, which has the best cost/benefit ratio of them all.
New developments and innovation factors
- The comfortable ten-seater gondolas offer the ideal infrastructure for the transport of leisure items such as toboggans and bikes etc.
- The whole installation is being designed to ensure that people with limited mobility and families with prams and pushchairs will also be able to use the cableway independently without obstruction.
- The tobogganing experience will be noticeably improved by redesigning the return track of the toboggan run from Hohnegg and making it possible to sled close to the Hannig valley station. The final descent to the valley station will be made comfortably via a new escalator. In addition, the lower part of the toboggan run will be equipped with infrastructure for artificial snowmaking.
- The new cableway, in conjunction with the new return line for the toboggan or monster scooter run, will lay the perfect foundation for the expansion of winter and summer activities on the Hannigberg.
Future positioning and activities offered by the Hannig as a leisure destination
The Hannig is to be positioned in its further development as a mountain for all generations, with the continued aims of attracting a broad target group to support the destination and guaranteeing its use for as much of the year as possible.
Project costs
Saastal Bergbahnen AG has agreed to realise the new Hannig cableway with the support of patrons through the crowdfunding campaign. Saastal Bergbahnen AG will raise the missing debt capital of around CHF 8 million. The money raised through the crowdfunding campaign will be used as a public service contribution to finance the new Hannig cableway to achieve the goal. This change brings the goal of building the new lift in summer/autumn 2023 and reopening it in winter 2023-2024 or summer 2024 even closer. In writing, the municipality of Saas-Fee will ask the patrons for their consent to convert the shares into public service contributions.
Roadmap
- Presentation of the project to the General Meeting of the tourist association: 28.03.2022
- Project presentation for local population: 07.04.2022
- Presentation of project for second-homers: 15.04.2022
- Financing phase: starting 28.03.2022 (closure and expected achievement of the objective during summer 2022).
- Information event: 06.10.2022
- by April 2023, licensing procedure and project work
- May 2023 demolition
- Summer/Autumn 2023 and Winter 2023-2024 new construction
- Sommer 2024 inauguration of the new cableway
Assessment of the need for the new Hannigbahn
Municipality of Saas-Fee
Saas-Fee is on its way up, and it will be necessary to harness this optimistic mood to secure a successful future.
Saastal Bergbahnen AG
As a mountain railway company, we can see the tourist benefits and the need for this cableway, even if it will be very hard to run at a profit. Therefore, we are willing to bankroll its operation in the long term.
Saastal Tourismus AG
Studies over the whole of Switzerland show that skiing as an activity is in slight decline, whereas activities like tobogganing, hiking and snowshoeing are trending. The Hannigberg is the ideal mountain for these activities and has a lot of development potential. We see the cableway as a means to an end, with the activities on offer on the mountain paving the way for innovation. At the same time, from the point of view of tourism, it would be a major blow to the local population, the owners of second homes and guests throughout the Saas Valley if this leisure destination were no longer to be accessible by cableway.