Artist render of the new Hörnli Express Gondola top station in Arosa, which will be constructed in 2028. | Image: Arosa Facebook

Arosa, Switzerland, is preparing for a major redevelopment of the Hörnli sector, with a new 10-passenger gondola, an 8-passenger chairlift, expanded snowmaking, and improved slopes planned for the coming years.

The Hörnli sector of Arosa is where the resort connects with Lenzerheide by means of the Urdenbahn cable car. The two resorts joined in 2014 to form a ski area with 225 kilometers (140 miles) of groomed ski runs. The major modernization of the Hörnli area will improve the interconnection between the two ski resorts.

Hörnli sector marked in red on ski area trail map. | Image: Arosa Lenzerheide with SnowBrains annotation

The project will ultimately see the existing six-passenger Hörnli-Express gondola and four-passenger Hörnli chairlift replaced by a new 10-passenger gondola and an 8-passenger high-speed chairlift. The resort also plans improvements to the area’s pistes and snowmaking infrastructure. The project is expected to represent Arosa Bergbahnen’s largest single investment in its history, with the latest estimates putting the total cost at approximately CHF 67 million ($85 million), including the lift installations, piste work, and snowmaking. The project is slated for the summer of 2028, with preparations currently under way and an opening scheduled for December 2028.

Artist render of the top station of the new Hörnli 8-seater chairlift in Arosa. | Image: Arosa Facebook

The centerpiece of the project is the replacement of the existing Hörnli-Express. The current six-passenger gondola dates back to 1986, making it 40 years old this year. The gondola climbs 664 vertical meters (2,178 feet) from the Hörnli valley station over a 3,107-meter (10,194-foot) route in about 11 minutes, carrying approximately 2,000 passengers per hour. The upgrade will see a 10-passenger gondola manufactured by Leitner, with a planned capacity of approximately 2,400 passengers per hour and a slightly faster travel time of 9:30 minutes. The new gondola will retain the existing alignment but will use significantly fewer towers. Arosa Bergbahnen’s plans call for the number of towers to drop from 25 to just 13.

The new lift will also be equipped for bicycle transportation, increasing its usefulness beyond the winter season.

Artist render of the new Hörnli Express Gondola bottom station in Arosa. | Image: Arosa Facebook

The second major change will be the replacement of the existing quad chair at Hörnli. Built by Garaventa in 1994, the detachable chairlift is now more than 30 years old. It climbs from approximately 2,150 meters (7,054 feet) to 2,499 meters (8,199 feet) over a 1,236-meter (4,055-foot) route in 4:30 minutes, and has a capacity of 2,400 passengers per hour. Arosa Bergbahnen plans to replace it with a new Leitner eight-passenger high-speed chairlift, running parallel to the new gondola.

The new Leitner chairlift will also have a new, lower base station, allowing skiers to access a longer descent in the Hörnli sector. For added comfort, the new Hörnli chair will feature a bubble and will cut the travel time to 3:50 minutes, giving a capacity of 3,000 passengers per hour. The new chairlift’s upper station will sit beside the future gondola’s mountain station.

While the boost to the Hörnli area from the two lift upgrades is exciting, Arosa’s investments in the area don’t stop there. The resort will also realign and improve several pistes and expand snowmaking infrastructure throughout the sector. The work is intended to make the Hörnli area more reliable and attractive during the winter season while also improving its summer offerings. The project also includes infrastructure work around the future chairlift base station, including a new access road and associated facilities. Arosa Bergbahnen has already budgeted approximately CHF 4 million ($5.1 million) in preliminary work for piste expansions, snowmaking and infrastructure during the 2026-27 business year.

The Hörnli is particularly important to Arosa because it sits directly alongside the connection toward Lenzerheide. The redevelopment will boost the efficiency of skier flow in the area, thus improving connectivity. The improvements will take place entirely within the existing ski-area boundary.

Arosa announced on its social media accounts that preliminary work for the project is starting this summer, as a project of this magnitude will need to be carried out over several construction windows. The current plans call for preparatory work in 2026 and 2027, followed by the main construction phase in summer 2028.

The resort had previously targeted an opening in December 2027, but its more recent project updates now point toward December 2028 for the new lifts. The existing infrastructure will continue operating while Arosa Bergbahnen prepares with minimal disruptions for guests for the major redevelopment.

For Arosa, the project represents a significant investment in one of the most important sectors of the resort and a major modernization of the gateway between Arosa and the wider Arosa Lenzerheide ski area.

The new Hörnli lifts in Arosa will be constructed in 2028. | Image: Arosa Facebook