Forcella Staunies
The gondola built on Monte Cristallo for the 1956 Cortina Olympics as insurance against poor snow, which carried skiers to the highest lift-served point in the Dolomites until its concession ran out in 2016; the mountain beneath its top pylons is no longer stable.
- Region
- Veneto
- Country
- Italy
- Status
- abandoned
- Year opened
- 1956
- Year closed
- 2016
- Reason for closure
- The last forty-year concession, granted in 1971, expired in 2011 and was extended repeatedly while appeals ran. The final appeal was rejected on 25 July 2016 and the lift shut on 24 July 2016. Underlying it was the ground itself: the permafrost and the small glacier at the forcella have gone, the uppermost pylons had begun to shift on unstable terrain, and geological constraints now rule out any lift reaching the 2,918 m saddle again.
History
Forcella Staunies is a notch at 2,918 m in Monte Cristallo above Cortina d'Ampezzo, and the lift that reached it was built for the 1956 Winter Olympics - insurance for the organisers, high enough to hold snow if the lower courses failed. It became one of the classic runs of the Dolomites, the highest lift-served point in the range, a steep pitch off a glaciated saddle that skiers came a long way for; the installation was reworked in the 1980s with an intermediate station added. Its end was bureaucratic and geological at once. The forty-year concession granted in 1971 ran out in 2011 and was kept alive by extensions and appeals until the last of them was rejected on 25 July 2016, the lift having made its final trip the day before. By then the mountain had moved on: the little glacier at the forcella had all but disappeared, the permafrost holding the top of the line was thawing, and the uppermost pylons were slowly being displaced by unstable ground. The company running the Cristallo and Faloria lifts has since proposed a replacement Funifor, but the authorities have made clear that nothing can be built back up to 2,918 m - any new lift would have to stop at the intermediate station. The old cabinovia's structures remain on the mountain.
Lifts
| Name | Type | Manufacturer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cabinovia Forcella Staunies | Gondola | Built for the 1956 Winter Olympics as a reserve venue in case of poor snow, and rebuilt in the 1980s with an intermediate station. Closed 24 July 2016 after the expiry of its concession; a replacement Funifor has been proposed but could only reach the intermediate station |
Runs
- Pista Forcella Staunies
Sources and further reading
- https://www.planetmountain.com/it/notizie/trekking/stauneis-chiusa-la-storica-cabinovia-sopra-cortina.html
- https://www.skiforum.it/skinews/185-forcella-staunies-chiusura-o-sostituzione.html
- https://www.ilgazzettino.it/schede/cabinovia_staunies_cortina_d_ampezzo_forcella-8318636.html
- https://www.funivie.org/web/progetto-per-un-nuovo-funifor-a-forcella-staunies/
- https://www.skimania.it/pista-forcella-staunies-cortina/
More in Italy
Location
46.5834, 12.1935