A Sunkid Mountain Coaster was recently installed at Rosskopf/Monte Cavallo
According to Hannes Stofner, President of the Board of Neue Rosskopf GmbH, there has been a spirit of optimism at Sterzing's local mountain for several years now. After the implementation of the new panoramic lift installed a few years ago, the new valley run, new snow-making facilities, the realization of the water playground and the petting zoo, the plans for the renewal of the outdated cable car are also in full swing. Now the next highlight is presented with a new summer toboggan run.
Starting from the top station of the panorama lift at an altitude of 2,120 meters, a mountain coaster from Sunkid was installed on the Rosskopf in a very short time. Only 9 weeks passed from the awarding of the contract to the opening. The lift runs over a length of 1,303 meters and a difference in altitude of almost 300 meters to the bottom station of the lift. With an average gradient of 20% and a maximum of 56%, speeds of up to 40 km/h can be reached. This means spectacular fun for young and old, surrounded by magnificent mountain panorama.
Florian Mair, managing director of the Sterzing Pfitsch Freienfeld tourism cooperative, is pleased with the upgrade for the mountain: "The Rosskopf is a local recreation zone for locals and guests. Sterzing has always been the economic and social center of South Tyrol's Wipptal valley. The valley station of the Rosskopf cable car is only a few minutes' walk from the historic town center, so the new attraction is also very easy to reach on foot. Due to the nearby train station, the Sterzing exit of the Brenner freeway and the location directly on the Brenner road, the Rosskopf is characterized by its very good accessibility. A good utilization of the railroad is guaranteed with over 10,000 guest beds and 400,000 arrivals in the region.
Florian Leitner, technical project manager of the manufacturing company Sunkid, emphasizes the careful implementation of the project: "Sustainability is a big issue for us, and in our customer we have found the ideal partner who also lives these values. Due to our construction method, rough interventions in nature can be omitted. For example, the rails are anchored to the ground with earth nails, which can also be easily removed again. Also, the lightweight construction of our toboggans allows optimal use of the existing lifts."
In fact, the existing panoramic gondola lift is used to transport the toboggans up the mountain, and in winter the majority of the track is dismantled again for skiing operations.
The summer toboggan run underscores the trend that the summer season is becoming steadily more interesting for South Tyrol's ski area operators. With the new Mountain Coaster, the concept of active vacations in and around the Alpine town and its local mountain is being consistently continued.
It is essential to make more use of the Rosskopf mountain railroad with the summer toboggan run, to create a more attractive offer and to preserve Sterzing's local mountain in the long term. This step is necessary in order to develop Sterzing from a transit region to a vacation region in the medium term, according to Alois Bacher, President of the Sterzing Tourism Cooperative.
