Wengen-Männlichen
Wengen-Männlichen
It’s hard to imagine how the route from Braunbär Hotel & Spa to the Männlichen mountain could be more convenient, since the lower cable car station is right across from the hotel. The spacious cable cars take six minutes to rise to the upper station, at an elevation of 2,230 metres. We owe this luxury to the avalanche winter of 1999.
1999
The avalanche winter of 1999 was named after the many avalanches that took place in January and February of that year. A large portion of the Alpine region was affected, from the Upper French Alps to Switzerland and the Tyrol region. In some cases, the consequences were so catastrophic that, for the very first time, Level 5 (very high) of the European Avalanche Danger Scale was declared for several days.
In the Alpine region, many roads were blocked, and entire valleys were cut off from the rest of the world. Switzerland alone witnessed some 1,200 avalanches that caused a total of 17 deaths in buildings and on roads. The lower Wengen-Männlichen cable car station was also hit.
An aerial connection
The Wengen-Männlichen cable car began operations on 22 July 1954. In the beginning, the cars could fit up to 40 people, but in 1963, they were replaced by bigger cable cars with 50 seats. In 1973, the 425 hp engine further modernized the cars, increasing their transport capacity by around 12%. Wait times at the lower station began to shorten.
The third technical advancement took place in 1991 and 1992. With the exception of the upper and lower stations, the old cable car system was fully renovated, and the existing cars were replaced by two spacious 80-person cable cars. The travel time shrank from 6-7 minutes to 4-5 minutes.
In winter 1999, an avalanche hit the lower station in Wengen hard. The platform was covered with snow, trees and rocks to a height of more than 10 metres. As a result, its operations had to be suspended for several months, and the cable car could no longer run from its old location.
Then, in April 1999, the board of directors decided to move the lower station outside the avalanche zone. No sooner said than done! Plans were produced at lightning speed, permits were granted and building work was completed. In early December 1999, the first cable car lifted off from the new location, on its way to the Männlichen.