On a festive Saturday afternoon, the largest ski resort in Beskydy, Ski Bílá, unveiled its brand-new six-seat heated ski lift. The lift is a welcome upgrade, replacing the old four-seater that had been in operation for 17 years. The resort operators reportedly invested 150 million crowns for the new lift.
The new ski lift was put into operation on a trial basis on Tuesday, ahead of its grand opening on Saturday. “It was also blessed by the Ostrava-Opavian Diocese today to ensure its safe operation,” said Jaroslav Vrzgula, the head of Ski Bílá.
Vrzgula highlighted that the new lift is a six-seater detachable system with bubbles. “This means it has a cover. Plus, it also has heated seats. For us, this investment is the culmination of our sixty-year effort here,” Vrzgula described, adding that other facilities in the resort have also been innovated and modernized.
Even though not all slopes were in operation on Saturday due to melting snow, many people turned up for the grand launch of the lift. The resort was packed with total parking lots and ski resorts. Part of the event was an all-day ski pass for just two hundred crowns.
This attracted visitors like Roman Papa from Slovak Trenčín. “When I compare it with last year when I first came here to ski, it’s an incredible improvement. This lift is great. It’s nice that the seat warms you up, and the bubble is super. I’ve been here since morning, and it was raining and snowing, so the bubble protected us on the lift,” shared Roman, a 26-year-old Slovak who has been skiing since elementary school.
Skiers and snowboarders praised the new lift, many also mentioning that they found it faster than the previous one. The only dampener was the weather and the inability to enjoy all the slopes. However, they could also enjoy the accompanying program, which was full of music, dancing, competitions, ski demonstrations, and a ski mountaineering race.