Špindlerův Mlýn: the first tower of the Audi Line Přehradní chairlift is up as the Propojení link enters its decisive phase

I have already written in more detail about the project itself, its history going back to plans from 1994, the negotiations with the Krkonoše National Park and the spectacular installation of the ski bridge in the article “Špindlerův Mlýn: a historic transformation and a triumph of engineering: the Propojení project”. Today I look at what is happening on the construction site right now and what it means for skiers planning next winter in the Krkonoše (Giant Mountains).

From foundations to load-bearing structures

The resort has essentially finished the earthworks and preparatory stage. The focus of construction has moved to installing the load-bearing structures, which is the most spectacular part of building a cable lift. The first completed tower with its head assembly paves the way for the next ones: foundations for further towers along the 1,400-metre line are being prepared in parallel, so from now on the works will change the look of the valley week by week.

At the same time, work continues on the piers of the valley station at the P1 terminal, while higher up the line, around Hromovka, earthworks and concreting are under way for the top station and the lift garage. Garaging the chairs outside operating hours extends the life of the seats and covers, which makes a measurable operational difference with heated seats and bubbles.

Six seats, heated, with a bubble. Four minutes to the top

The centrepiece of the first stage is the Audi Line Přehradní: a detachable six-seater chairlift built by Leitner, with heated seats and bubble covers. The name is no accident, as the resort has worked with Audi for years and the new lift will carry the brand in its name, just like the earlier flagship installations on the Svatý Petr side of the resort.

René Hroneš, director of Skiareál Špindlerův Mlýn, describes the investment as follows:

“The most noticeable new feature, which guests will experience from the very start of this winter season (both in person and on skis), will be a new, modern cable lift: a six-seater heated chairlift with a bubble cover from Leitner. As with the existing lift in Svatý Petr, we have put the emphasis above all on passenger safety and comfort. On a line 1,400 metres long, the lift will run quietly, carry up to 2,000 people per hour and cut the ride to the top to just four minutes.”

A four-minute ride and 2,000 people per hour are very good figures by Czech standards. For a detachable six-seater, however, this capacity is moderate, because Leitner's technology allows for more. It looks like a deliberate compromise stemming from the environmental agreements with KRNAP, the Krkonoše National Park administration. From the outset the project was optimised to interfere as little as possible with the national park, as shown by the reduction of the area of forest to be cleared from as much as 56 hectares originally planned to 22.16 ha.

New Přehradní and Lesní pistes along their full length

Together with the new lift, the resort will open two new pistes along their full length: Přehradní and Lesní. Skiers will use them to reach the valley station of the new lift, on one side via a bridge over the Elbe, on the other over road II/295, which runs from Vrchlabí to Špindlerův Mlýn. The steel structure of the main ski bridge was lifted into place back in November 2025 in an operation using a LIEBHERR LR 1750 crane, at the time the largest machine of its kind in the Czech Republic.

The resort management is billing Přehradní as a contender for the best red piste in the Czech Republic, thanks to its shaped profile and width. Whether it lives up to that, only skiers in the first winter will tell. Still, the very fact that a completely new, full-size piste is being built in the Krkonoše is something Czech skiing has not seen for decades.

What will happen before winter

The calendar is tight, but the most technically demanding operations, namely foundations in difficult terrain and the bridge structure, are already done or well advanced. The most sensitive point in the schedule remains the autumn: tensioning the rope and installing the drive technology must be finished before the first serious snowfall reaches the Krkonoše.

One direction first, then the full link

One important detail often gets lost in discussions about the project: the first winter with the new infrastructure will bring a one-way link. From Medvědín skiers will be able to ski down the new pistes to the P1 terminal and ride the Audi Line Přehradní up to the Hromovka area on the Svatý Petr side, without a car, taxi or ski bus. Returning to Medvědín the same way on skis will not yet be possible.

A full two-way link will only come with the ten-seater gondola from the P1 terminal up to Medvědín, planned for the 2027/28 season. Špindlerův Mlýn will then become a single, connected ski area that can be toured entirely on skis, in the style of Alpine ski circuits.

In practice, the biggest winners next winter will be guests staying in the Bedřichov district and around Medvědín. In the morning they ride up on their side of the valley, ski down the new pistes and ride up to the Svatý Petr side, where most of the resort's demanding pistes are, then return in the evening by ski bus or on foot. It is still not a full ski circuit, but the logistics of a ski day will change noticeably, because there will be no need to pick a “side of the valley” for the whole day each morning.

An investment that changes the standing of Czech skiing

The Propojení project is the largest investment in Czech mountain tourism in years and Špindlerův Mlýn's ticket into the group of resorts with Alpine-standard infrastructure: heated seats, detachable lifts and SkiIn-SkiOut access to the slopes. At the same time the entire build is taking place in the heart of a national park, under strict environmental compensation requirements, and it will be a benchmark for the whole region, including Polish resorts, which for now can only debate investments of a similar scale in protected areas.

I will return to the subject as the next stages of construction progress. The natural checkpoints will be the rope tensioning in autumn and the trial operation in November.

Jacek Ciszak / skionline.pl