WIR 02/2020 [EN]

10 Interview
Tales from Hexenwasser Söll
WIR spoke with Mario Gruber and Walter Eisenmann, managing directors
of Berg- & Skilift Hochsöll GmbH & Co. KG
professional manner. Thanks to the great
commitment on the part of all employees and
partner companies, the tight time schedule
was met and the season was able to start at
the beginning of August.
WIR. The Hexenwasser installation is to
operate all year round. What can guests look
forward to in the winter?
Walter Eisenmann: The LED illumination
of the cabins is set to be a real eye-catcher in
the winter. They will create colorful accents
during night skiing and tobogganing from
6.30pm to 9.30pm on Wednesday through
Saturday. The choice of colors yellow, green,
blue and red can be individually selected for
each individual cabin and provides a perfect
fit for our illuminated toboggan run – the
“Witches’ Ride”.
WIR. The new gondola lift is a D-Line. What
were the deciding factors for choosing this
product?
WIR. The Hexenwasser (“witches’ water”)
gondola lift has been operating since August 1
and the theme makes it unique. What’s in
store for guests?
Walter Eisenmann: The highlight of our
new lift is the experience for our guests during
the trip. A story relating to the “witches’ water”
is told in each of the 72 cabins. The tales are
narrated by local people from Söll. Children
and adults provided an enthusiastic audience
during the studio recordings. The stories are
about old customs, legends and adages revolving
around Söll and the Hohe Salve. The
farmers and the wise old women acquired a lot
of knowledge by observing nature, and that’s
reflected in the tales. The members of the Söll
brass band recorded soundtracks relating to
the stories – this “Witches’ Symphony” provides
the musical accompaniment.
WIR. Spring 2020 marked an important
phase in the implementation of the new
gondola lift. What impact did the coronavirus
pandemic have on the construction work?
What was the experience of the teams during
this period?
Mario Gruber: The Covid-19 situation
delayed the start of construction by about
three weeks. We introduced a wide range of
measures to ensure the best possible safety
for all workers. This included wearing visors,
organized break times and intensified hygiene
measures. These things quickly became routine
and were adopted by everyone in a very
Mario Gruber: Together with Doppelmayr,
we’ve created a real gem with the new lift. The
ropeway technology meets all our requirements
in terms of enhanced comfort and
quality for our resort. We were particularly
impressed at the fact that we were able to
implement such a high level of individual styling.
The D-Line brings us precisely the right
attributes. It’s very comfortable during the
trip, quiet in operation and offers benefits for
our crew. Another great feature is the control
of our entertainment offer. Our employees
can do it all conveniently from their desks.
The positive feedback we got from our guests
in the first days of operation certainly confirms
that we made the right decisions. The direct
drive is also a great advantage because it
means you now have virtually no noise in the
top station.
WIR. Many thanks for the interview.