Major Ski Area For Uzbekistan Moves Forward
French ski lift manufacturer MND has won a €100 million order to build six new lifts to get the Chimgan ski area in Uzbekistan, which will also be a four-season resort, up and running over the next three years.
The six lifts include a 10-seater detachable gondola lift to access the Chimgan mountain mid-station and the service buildings at the bottom and top stations and an 80-seater aerial cable car (tramway) with access to the top of Mount Chimgan at 3,309 metres and the service buildings at the bottom and top stations. The company will also deliver two fixed-grip quad chairlifts, six conveyor lifts for beginner slopes and an all-weather play area and a fully automatic snowmaking system for a section of the ski area.
Co-financed by an inter-governmental loan from the French government supervised by the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), the project aims to fast-track the development of Chimgan, which located less than 90 minutes from the Uzbek capital Tashkent with its population of nearly four million. It aims to become the leading mountain resort in Central Asia.
Along with the lifts and snowmaking MND will also supply a mountain coaster, two giant zip lines, an adventure tower, a tubing area, fourteen avalanche safety systems, signage for the ski area, and floodlighting on certain slopes.
Most of the infrastructure will be built in France at MND’s facility in Sainte-Hélène-du-Lac (pictured below) in the Savoie region, with the work due to be completed over the next three years.
