Bye chairlift, hi gondola

Chairlift enthusiasts and gondola fans take note! In 2026, there will be something for everyone at monte popolo in Eben im Pongau. While we are still enjoying open-air lifts during the current ski season, from season 26/27 onwards we will be gliding up comfortably in the ‘new’ gondola to the family ski area. Find out everything about the renovation and why the word ‘new’ is in quotation marks here.

Regular visitors to the bloghuette know what operations manager Josef Stadler and the monte popolo team mean by ‘Oldie’. Here's a little hint: the engine for the ‘Oldie’ emergency generator is an original VW car engine from the 1970s, complete with clutch. That's right, it's the Popolo 1. Since 1973, the chairlift, which was then still called the ‘Reitlehenbahn’, has been transporting winter sports enthusiasts to the top. In 2008, the facility was renovated and equipped with child safety devices. In 2023, we celebrated its 70th anniversary with a RETRO race and retrospectives – three years later, the ‘Oldie’ is about to make its final sprint. Until the end of the season in March, skiers can still enjoy the nostalgic, (in sunny weather) leisurely and relaxing ride on the double chairlift. And the course has already been set for the new gondola – or rather, the support foundations have been concreted.

Josef Stadler, operations manager at monte popolo, told me a lot about the summer of 2025 and the initial construction preparations for the new gondola. At the end of July, the new transformer station was installed at the mountain station. At the beginning of August, tree felling work began, followed by earthworks: foundations were laid and cabling of the route began. ‘All the power lines, pipes for the snow-making equipment and the sewer were also relocated at the valley station,’ explains Josef. Helicopters were also used for the work, transporting the heavy material directly to the desired location. In addition, excess soil from the valley station was used for levelling at the mountain station. ‘We finished this in mid-October and then started preparing for the upcoming winter season,’ says the operations manager.

Monte Popolo is therefore ready to welcome the ‘new’ gondola. But what's with the quotation marks? The gondola isn't entirely new, as it is currently still in use in Wagrain. Anyone who has ever been to Snow Space Salzburg will know it as the ‘Grafenberg Express 1’. According to the plan, it will be dismantled in Wagrain in the first week of March. The gondolas will then be taken to the lift car park in Eben and stored there. The dismantling of the double chairlift in Eben is scheduled to start in the third week of March. ‘We have to finish demolishing the buildings by the beginning of May, because the construction company plans to start the masonry work in the first week of May,’ Josef explains. The construction of the stable (stable = ‘garage’ for the gondolas) and the installation of the gondola lift are scheduled for mid-June. ‘The new facility should be ready by the end of September,’ says Josef, looking forward to a busy and exciting summer with his team. But it will be worth it: the new facility will transport more than twice as many winter sports enthusiasts to the top in less than half the time – a big plus, especially for families, children and ski course groups. But before we finally say ‘hit, gondola’, we will celebrate a fitting farewell and say: ‘bye, bye, chairlift’.

On the 14th of March, monte popolo is hosting an event where you can take one last ride on your ‘last chair’ – maybe even the golden chair with the number 50? Under the motto ‘The Last Ride’, all participants can fill their stamp pass at four fun stations during a rally on the mountain and enter it into a prize draw. Among other things, you can win a Ski amadé ALL-IN Card White. Who can participate? It's simple: anyone who dresses up in a cool retro accessory or outfit and picks up a stamp card at the ticket office at monte popolo. All participants will also receive a day ticket at the ‘price from back then’. After the award ceremony, there will be a musical finale at the valley station. By the way: the Landgasthof Ortner is hosting a morning drinks session on the 15th March, the last day of the monte popolo season, to bid farewell to the season and the trusty chairlift.

photo credits: TVB Eben im Pongau, TVB Eben im Pongau - Martin Diess, O´MANS