Open Top ‘Gondola Cabriolet’ To Debut in Ski Resorts

A new model of gondola which will has windows removed from the cabin is to go into service in ski resorts.

Swiss company Bartholet has designed the Cabriolet Gondola so that its windows are open all the time with a fixed opening. It will not be a case of the windows coming down when the weather is good.

“The glass cannot be closed when the weather is bad but if a ski area also has regular glass-enclosed  gondolas on the line, the gondolas can be easily exchanged depending on the weather and the garage system,” said Bartholet’s Denise Linder.

Bartholet say the first cabins have even already been sold to several ski resorts, although we don’t yet know which resorts.

Open gondolas are not new. Some early models, generally used in urban locations or to get between resort bases, were built without windows, but these are now rare.

However several ski resorts including the Dachstein Glacier in Austria and the glacier at Tignes in France have unveiled cable car cabins with open air sections on their rooves.