Arosa Lenzerheide is located in northern and central Grisons. It extends from the innermost Schanfigg via Urdental to the neighboring western valley with Lenzerheide, Parpan–Valbella and Churwalden. The ski area covers an altitudinal range of 1,230 to 2,865 m (4,035 to 9,400 ft). Outstanding summits with aerial tramways and panoramic restaurants are the Weisshorn and the Parpaner Rothorn which also marks the highest point of the ski area. 60 per cent of the slopes are groomed with artificial snow.
The Canton of Graubünden in South-Eastern Switzerland
Arosa Lenzerheide also offers more than 103 km (64 mi) of cross-country skiing trails and 4 terrain parks («Park'n'Pipe Tschuggen», «Wood Ranch» and «Bärensnowpark» in Arosa as well as «Jibarea Stätz» in Lenzerheide).
In addition there are 11.5 km (7.1 mi) of sledding runs and 140 km (87 mi) of prepared winter hiking trails. In the summer season the region is a popular hiking and mountain biking resort.[1][2]
Arosa and Lenzerheide are connected by a cable car called «Urdenbahn». This aerial tramway was built in 2013 and is located between the Arosa Hörnli and the Urdenfürggli on the Lenzerheide side. It is 1,682 metres (5,518 ft) long and surmounts just about 70 metres (230 ft) of altitude. The ski resort is operated mainly by Arosa Bergbahnen [de] and Lenzerheide Bergbahnen [de].[3]
Ski lifts
A total of 43 ski lifts operate in Arosa Lenzerheide: 14 in Arosa, 12 in Lenzerheide east side (incl. Urdenbahn and chairlift Obertor), 13 in Lenzerheide west side (incl. chairlift Obertor) and 4 in Churwalden. There are 4 aerial tramways, 4 gondola lifts, 18 chair lifts (17 detachables) and 15 T-bars/button lifts:[4]
The centrepiece of the resort compound is the Urdenbahn cable car, built and operated by the Arosa Bergbahnen company.
The Austrian-Swiss cableway manufacturer Steurer Seilbahnen created two parallel single-track twin-cable aerial ropeways which manage with a single rope span without pylons. There are two rope loops, the return of the ropes is in each case on the track of the other path. For stabilizing the ropes 17 large supporting cable tabs are used. Two glazed Kuechler design cabins from Gangloff[5] are installed with six automatic doors and a capacity of 150 people each. The hourly transportation capacity is 1,700 persons per direction. At low ridership or technical restrictions the Urdenbahn can be operated with just one car. The emergency passenger evacuating concept includes the use of winches between the two cabins.[6]
Cable car Urdenbahn connecting the resorts of Arosa and Lenzerheide
