Špindlerův Mlýn links its ski areas: I visited the building site and the launch of the new Audi Line Přehradní lift

I was there at the resort's invitation, for a presentation held in the valley station of the Svatý Petr-Pláň lift. The speakers were René Hroneš, director of Skiareál Špindlerův Mlýn, and Martin Jandura, the town's mayor. The same evening the resort and the town unveiled a shared visual identity for both of them and for local businesses. Two things, one date, one logic.

I wrote earlier about the history of the project, the negotiations with the Krkonoše National Park administration (Správa KRNAP) and the installation of the first bridge in the article “Špindlerův Mlýn: a historic transformation and a triumph of engineering, the Propojení project”. Now I can describe the actual state of things in September 2026, with full figures that were not available before.

Špindlerův Mlýn: what is happening on the building site today

Earthworks and foundations are finished, and the project has moved on to installing the structures and the lift technology. Ten towers already stand along the line, the valley station structure is complete, and the top station, with a garage for 57 chairs, is in the final stage of construction. Electrical work comes next in the schedule, and load tests are planned for mid-October.

The most spectacular part of this summer's work happened at night. The second bridge, by the approach to the Lesní piste, was put in place in August 2026, with the steel structure set into position in a single night. The work was brought forward from the original schedule because of the weather forecast and went ahead without major complications. The first bridge, over the Elbe, was installed on 4 November 2025.

Two bridges in a project of this scale are not decoration. As Hroneš explained, the point is not only to cross the river and the access road but above all to separate skier and car traffic safely. Anyone who knows Špindlerův Mlýn on a January weekend knows what he means: the II/295 road through the centre can grind to a halt, and skiers crossing paths with cars has been an organisational problem until now.

Audi Line Přehradní: what DirectDrive technology brings

At the heart of the first stage is the Audi Line Přehradní, a detachable six-seater chairlift with heated seats and bubble wind covers, supplied by Leitner. The line is 1,400 metres long, capacity is up to 2,000 people per hour, and the ride to the top station will take about four minutes.

More interesting than the figures themselves is the drive. The lift will get the LEITNER DirectDrive system, a gearless synchronous motor connected directly to the drive bullwheel. Doing away with the gearbox cuts the number of parts that need servicing, reduces mechanical losses and noticeably lowers noise. The resort quotes energy consumption about 5% lower than with conventional systems. I have seen and heard DirectDrive at work in several Alpine resorts, and also on the newest Porsche chairlift in Štrbské Pleso and this particular argument is not marketing: the difference in station noise is audible from the first minute, and for the residents of Bedřichov, who will have the lift right under their windows, it matters in a very concrete way.

A capacity of 2,000 people per hour is moderate for a six-seater, and Leitner's technology allows more. But it is worth remembering what this lift is for. In my view, for a link rather than a main access lift, that capacity should be enough and should limit the risk of queues building up at P1.

Snowmaking is a chapter of its own in this investment. The new Přehradní and Lesní pistes are covered by the expanded system, and the water comes from the Labská dam thanks to an intake built earlier. With Krkonoše winters becoming ever more changeable, this infrastructure is key to keeping the link running as reliably as possible all season.

How the link will work in the 2026/27 winter

Precision matters here, because this distinction often gets lost in announcements. In the 2026/27 winter the link works in one direction only.

The route goes like this: from Medvědín you ski down the new Lesní piste, cross the II/295 road and the Elbe on the bridges, reach the P1 terminal, board the Audi Line Přehradní and ride up to Hromovka, already on the Svatý Petr side. No car and no ski bus: the whole journey runs on pistes, bridges and lifts. Getting back the same way to Medvědín on skis will not be possible yet.

Only a ten-seater gondola from the P1 terminal to Medvědín will provide a full, two-way link. Its construction starts in 2027, and opening is planned for the 2027/28 season. Only then will it be possible to move between the two parts of the resort in both directions without using a car or the ski bus.

According to the official winter map, the new pistes are 1,750 metres (Přehradní) and 600 metres (Lesní) long. The management is billing Přehradní as a contender for the best red piste in the Czech Republic, thanks to its width and the shaping of its profile. I will check that myself in December, because this is one promise that is easy to test.

Once the whole project is complete, Špindlerův Mlýn will have 8 aerial lifts, 9 surface lifts, up to 40 km of pistes and 100 km of cross-country trails, all on one ski pass.

How much the link costs

At the presentation the resort showed a cost breakdown that had not been published before. The total comes to CZK 1,195 million, or roughly 1.2 billion.

Cost by stage and scope (CZK million)

The breakdown shows clearly that the project is much more than two new lifts. The snowmaking items alone take CZK 275 million, and the two bridges another 118 million. The largest single item is still the planned gondola to Medvědín at CZK 290 million, while the Audi Line lift costs 260 million, just under 22% of the budget for the whole undertaking.

From a 1994 idea to concrete

In this project the permitting story is as interesting as the construction itself. The first idea of linking the two valleys came up in 1994. Formal planning work began in 2006, and in 2016 the town adopted a change to its local zoning plan that cleared the way for the investment.

In 2017 Melida submitted a new study to the park administration and started the environmental impact assessment proper. The positive EIA opinion came in October 2019. The key zoning and building permits were issued in April and October 2022, and in January 2023 came the decision on forest land that finally allowed work to begin. The 2023/24 season brought the first results on the ground: new pistes, widened existing ones and the water intake at the dam.

So 32 years will have passed between the idea and the first ride. That is worth setting against the pace at which entire new lift systems go up in the Alps, and against the much smaller scale of ski infrastructure development on the Polish side of the Krkonoše.

What the link changes for guests and residents

Špindlerův Mlýn changes above all for those who stay on the Bedřichov side. The neighbourhood will in practice become ski in, ski out, and the piste, a few dozen metres away, can be reached on foot. That applies to a large share of residents and many places to stay.

For visitors the key change is a different one. The morning question of which side of the valley to spend the day on disappears. Until now, choosing between Medvědín and Svatý Petr meant committing for the whole day or switching to the ski bus at midday, which with weekend traffic in the centre could be a lottery. Now Medvědín can be the morning warm-up and Svatý Petr, home to the most demanding pistes including FIS World Cup and Stoh, the rest of the day.

The resort also makes the case for safety and lighter traffic. Spreading skiers evenly means more room on the slopes and less car traffic in the centre, and a road free of jams together with the ski link should speed up access for the emergency services and the Horská služba (the Czech mountain rescue). These arguments are rarely heard in this debate, yet for a regular at Špindl they matter as much as the new chairs.

New visual identity: one town, one face

The second part of the evening was led by Tereza Bauer of the OBA Creators studio, who designed the new visual identity. The town and the resort are moving to a shared visual system, and local businesses and hotels will be able to bring its elements into their own communication while keeping their own brands. This approach is rare among Czech mountain resorts. The rollout is being handled by the Tourist Board, a platform that brings together the local authority and businesses.

The reference point was Innsbruck, where the city, city marketing and the tourist board have for years been developing a single umbrella brand that covers the region and about 40 surrounding municipalities. Anyone who has seen the INNS'BRUCK Bikepark, Airport or Patscherkofel logos will recognise the mechanism at once.

The mark itself is built on typography. The letter N is formed from the space between neighbouring shapes, using negative space, and becomes one of the key construction motifs of the whole identity. In the middle of the name the letters IN also appear together, a subtle nod to the town's location at the heart of the Krkonoše, and the cut-out itself recalls the plan of an open door, a gateway to the Krkonoše. Quarter-circle graphic elements are derived from the geometry of the logo: one represents the town, the other the ski resort. The town got green, the resort an intense blue.

During the presentation a slide showed more than a dozen existing logos of organisations from Špindlerův Mlýn. All different, all about the same place. The line from the stage was: one mountain resort needs one face. That is hard to argue with, although rolling out such a system across several dozen private companies will be harder than building a lift.

Also in the background of the whole change is Tatry Mountain Resorts, which holds a 25% stake in Melida. It is Melida that leases and operates Skiareál Špindlerův Mlýn. The most tangible sign of this connection is Gopass, the system familiar from Jasná and Tatranská Lomnica, among others.

Špindl SkiOpening on 12 December and tickets on sale

Špindlerův Mlýn opens the 2026/27 season on 12 December 2026 with the Špindl SkiOpening event in Svatý Petr, and that is the day the Audi Line Přehradní will carry its first passengers. On stage: Majk Spirit, Skyline, NobodyListen with Annet X and DJ Roxtar.

Tickets went on sale on 9 September at gopass.travel. The cheapest option is a limited batch of 100 Early Bird tickets at CZK 890. The Ski & Party package with a ski pass costs CZK 1,590, and there is also a VIP ticket with separate facilities. I quote the prices from the resort's announcement of 8 September 2026, and a limited batch by its nature sells out quickly.

What I think

For years Špindlerův Mlýn had the same structural problem: two good but separate ski areas, with a drive or a ski bus ride through the congested centre between them. Solving it for CZK 1.2 billion is a bold decision and, in my view, one that comes a decade late, through no fault of the investor but because of the procedures.

Realistically, do not expect Špindl to become a Czech version of an Alpine ski circuit in the 2026/27 winter. A one-way link is a half measure, and only the gondola to Medvědín in the 2027/28 season will complete the system. Until then the day will still need careful planning, and the afternoon return to Medvědín will be by ski bus or on foot.

Even so, the scale of this investment changes the standing of Špindlerův Mlýn in the region. For a skier the argument is simple: 40 km of pistes on one ski pass, detachable lifts with heated seats and a real chance that the lift queue will not eat half the day. I am coming back in December to see how many of these promises survive contact with the first weekend of the season.