Ještěd will not get a new cable car this year, there is no money for it

LIBEREC - Skiers will not be able to ride the new four-seat lift to Ještěd this year. The city and the Ještěd Sports Area (SAJ) have not succeeded in securing funding for its construction. "We have only started construction preparations. Ještěd will only get the four-seat lift in 2006," said SAJ director Vít Pražák to ČTK today.
    The lift, which the area had counted on until the last moment, was supposed to alleviate seasonal bottlenecks. It was to transport around 2000 passengers to the slopes per hour. The total hourly capacity of skiers transported at the Ještěd winter resort would thus rise from the current 3500 to 5500. Last year, there were queues of up to 45 minutes. The approximately one-kilometer-long track was supposed to run over the artificially snow-covered, widened slope from the road to the Ještědka chalet to the lower station of the Českých drah cable car.
    The city and Ještěd have unsuccessfully attempted three times to secure support for the construction of the lift from European funds. They are now relying on a strategic partner. The only interested party that has registered for the public competition is the company Snowhill. Whether the activities of the company, which already operates five winter resorts in the Czech Republic, including in Herlíkovice in Trutnov, Jablonec, and Vysoké nad Jizerou and Kašperské Hory, will expand to Ještěd, must be decided by the Liberec city council.
     Snowhill wants to invest 350 million crowns in the Liberec area in exchange for a 25-year lease. The company plans three new lifts. They will not change the prices announced for this year; they will even eliminate parking fees.
    The Ještěd mountain resort has 11 downhill trails with a total length of nearly nine kilometers. Nine lifts will be in operation, along with a two-seat lift and a cable car owned by Českých drah. "Half of the lifts are already undergoing technical inspections; all will be inspected," said area spokesperson Michal Buzek to ČTK today. Last year, 67,000 people visited Ještěd, which is half as many more than the year before.