Winterhorn: The History of a Ski Area

• Winterhorn was near Hospental in Switzerland’s Urseren Valley, in the canton of Uri.
• The former ski area ranged from 1,453 to 2,460 metres above sea level.
• Its facilities included a chairlift and a drag lift.
• The lifts did not operate in the 2008/09 winter season.
• In June 2009, the financially troubled facilities were offered for online auction.
• Winterhorn is a former ski area whose lift operations have ceased.

Winterhorn was the ski area on Hospental’s local mountain, near Andermatt in the Urseren Valley. On 20 June 2009, the facilities were described as including a chairlift, a drag lift, a restaurant, an après-ski log cabin and the base station with its associated land. At that time, the ski area stretched from 1,453 to 2,460 metres above sea level. Its elevation shaped the character of a small ski area in the high Urseren Valley.

The lifts did not operate during the 2008/09 winter. The operating company had debts of about 150,000 Swiss francs and needed 100,000 francs in start-up capital to resume operations. In June 2009, it offered the facilities for auction online; the process was due to run until 17 July. By shortly before the weekend covered by the June 2009 report, no concrete bids had been received. The operating concession at the time ran until 2011. Financial difficulties and the missed season led the company to seek investors.

Operating problems had not always been solely a question of lift facilities. In December 2002, cooperation between companies and broad support helped make a season opening possible. That August, the Pro Winterhorn association had announced it would not resume operations. Even then, opening for the season depended on shared financing and organisation.

Lift operations at Winterhorn have been discontinued. The elevation and former lifts now belong to the history of the site; the ski area is no longer an operating destination with open runs, tickets or lift connections.

Winterhorn illustrates how tourism infrastructure can become the subject of a sale during a financial crisis. Other examples of change in winter sports are covered in ski areas in transition; the cross-country skiing hall in Oberhof represents a different kind of sports infrastructure.