In cooperation with gamon&partner consultancy from Austria, Wald, Wild, Landschaftsökologie from Bad Krozingen and ift Freizeit- und Tourismusberatung consultants from Cologne, Montenius Consult produced a feasibility study of an interconnected system of ski trails between the villages of Masserberg and Goldisthal in the Thuringian Forest. Planning issues as well as ecological and economic impacts had to be addressed. The main features of the project are the establishment of a new slope on the northern side of the Farmdenkopf above the village of Goldisthal. On the mountaintop is the upper reservoir of the Vattenfall hydroelectric power station. The Ramdenberg can be accessed by gondola from the Rennsteig area in the village of Masserberg (300,000 bed nights p.a.) across the Schwarzatal and the reservoir. The new slope and gondola schemes will be enhanced by the establishemt of a mountain hiking trail and a Skywalk as well as several downhill attractions. The existing hiking trails (including four certified quality trails), cycling and trails for Nordic skiing are included in the Goldisthal-Masserberg Erlebniswelt.

Client: Oberhof Town Council
Year:2008/09

Oberhof is well knows as the centre of world cups and world championships for biathlon, Nordic skiing, Nordic combination and tobogganing. A small ski resort is located on Fallbachhang. Oberhof is looking at an extension of the skiing facilities including a tie-up with the existing slopes a few kilometres outside the village.

Client: Wurmbergseilbahn GmbH & Co. KG
Year:2008/2009

The Wurmberg ski area plans to develop the Kaffeehorst area which at present provides a secondary access to the ski resort of Lower Saxony’s highest mountain into an independent, attractive ski resort. As part of a feasibility study, Montenius Consult has planned new lifts and slopes, developed a plan for snowmaking systems, suggested feasible summer activities and provided a profit and loss projection.

Development of possible offers during wintertime (alpine skiing, snowboarding, tobogganing, tubing, snowshoeing, ice-skating, snow play area etc.) for the Panorama-Park Sauerland, a theme park on the ridge of the Rothaargebirge currently opened in summer only. The aim was to extend the park’s season. In the first stage the snowmaking potential was evaluated with the aid of SnowPlan. Moreover, a break-even-analysis taking into account the respective investments, operational and financing costs has been performed. The study also included recommendations concerning pricing, the services to be offered and a draft version of a marketing concept. As a result the feasibility was judged critically as the operators of the Panorama Park lacked specific know-how in the winter sports business. 

Based on the results of the area’s regional development concept, measures for the improvement of the services in the central ski area of the Sauerland were developed. These included recommendations for snowmaking systems, lift and trail quality, network, general services, catering, accommodation, traffic guidance systems, ski rental, marketing, sales and quality management. For the Ministry of Economic Affairs, SME’s, Energy and Transport the findings were a basis for the allocation of subsidies for projects that improved the quality of the ski areas in the Sauerland. The aim was to establish the Sauerland as the leading ski area in Germany's low mountain ranges until 2006. Until the season of 2005/06 visitor numbers in the regions ski areas had already climbed from 300,000 to 1,000,000.

With approximately 250,000 visitors per year the “Summer and Winter Sports Centre Monschau-Rohren” is one of the main visitor attractions in the county of Aachen and particularly in the region Monschau/Eifel. In line with ideas about a succession plan, Christoph Schrahe worked out a development concept indicating the potential of the economic capacity of different additional offers and giving advice about the future positioning of the leisure centre. 

Planning of a snowmaking system for the Postwiesen ski area Winterberg-Neuastenberg with SnowPlan.

Due to a special climate situation it was important to determine the capacity of the snowmaking system exactly. Furthermore, the snowmaking coverage was aligned with the existing lift capacity which reduced the necessary investments considerably.

Taking economic and regional aspects into account, it was proved that the project was economically viable. Afterwards the Postwiesen ski area successfully applied for government subsidies.

The installation of the snowmaking system in combination with a new electronic ticket system and a new grooming machine (total investment 1.8 million Euros) brought tremendous results: Whereas the 10-year average of operating days had decreased from 71 (1979-1988) to 32 days (1989-1998) before the installation, it increased to more than 90 days afterwards. Average daily visits increased from 250 to 625 and the turnover was increased by 800%.