Temperatures of up to 20 degrees and no fresh snow below 3000 meters – skiing is quite difficult even after the holidays. However, the Pany mini ski area, located at only 1,300 meters in Bündner Prättigau, defies adverse conditions. While other small and low ski areas are closed or not opened at all, the Pany lift remains open.
“Hard to believe, but the chairlift at Pany still works,” the operators write on their website. “We fight every day for the bit of profit we have left,” Johann Hertner (50), Vice President of Skilift Pany AG, tells Blick.
In order to protect from snow, machine maintenance is not done every day on the slopes anymore. Heavy snowplows will be too much of a burden for melting wet snow.
1000 francs for one night of snowmaking
The Pany chairlift is still open thanks to artificial snow: At CHF 1,000 per night, operators covered its slopes with snow in the fall. 20,000 francs are now melting.
There is only one chair lift and an additional children’s chair lift in the ski area. Normally, visitors meander down the mountain on four slopes. Currently only one is open – and only up to mid station.
The operation is not economically viable
This makes it clear that the effort for the remaining half of the slope isn’t worth much. Hertner also makes it clear: “Economic efficiency is secondary in this case. It’s about getting people in and around Pany GR to ski.”
This distinguishes the Pany chairlift from other ski areas that are completely closed. They couldn’t afford or didn’t want to fight for every pile of snow. According to those responsible, local residents and people with holiday apartments in Pany took advantage of the offer and are grateful for Skilift AG’s commitment. Apart from that, there are no skiers in Pany. Especially daily tourists stay away.
Hertner is primarily concerned with employees. Five people work on the chairlift. How much more they have to do remains an open question. “We may still need to close next week,” says Hertner. It rises and falls with the weather and temperatures over the next few days. The estimates are not very encouraging.