Site Evaluation and Feasibility Studies

Feasibility Study Erlebniswelt Goldisthal-Masserberg
Client: Town of Goldisthal
Year:2009
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.
Feasibility study Schnee-Aktiv Alpe Neuhornbach
Client: Town of Schoppernau, Austria
Year: 2009

Located at 1650m altitude above the villages of Au and Schoppernau the Neuhornbachalpe is the starting point for many hikers, tobogganners and ski tourers exploring the mountains of Bregenzerwald and Kleinwalsertal. In the primary stage of a feasilbility study ist was outlined how Neuhornbachalpe could be transformed in a snow activity centre by developing high-altitude Nordic trails amongst other proposals and how this required the establishment of a gondola or tramway to the Alpe.

Site evaluation for a hotel project in Söll
Client: Gamon & Partner Unternehmensberatung
Year:2009

Montenius Consult was commissioned to develop a location analysis for the Blue Vital Hotel, a four-star hotel in the Tyrolian village of Söll. The analysis included an evaluation of the supply and demand situation in Söll and the surrounding tourism regions of Wilder Kaiser as well as a study of the hotel market in Tyrolia.

Master Plan for the expansion of the Wurmberg ski area
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.
Preliminary concept Mountain Experience Park Oberhof
Client: Woodjump Hochseilgarten GmbH & Co. KG
Year:2008
The development plan for the Rennsteig village of Oberhof includes a Mountain Experience Park. Various options were defined, planned within the available area and capital requirements established. The preliminary concept is the basis for a future business plan.
Feasibility Study Rennsteig Ski- und Bergerlebnisarena Oberhof
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.
Development programme for winter sports in the Thuringian Forest
Client: Ministry of Economic Affairs of the Free State of Thuringia, Germany
Year: 2007

In co-operation with the Institute of Outdoor Sports and Environmental Science at the German Sport University Cologne an analysis of the winter sports infrastructure, a climatic evaluation, a potential analysis, a market and competition analysis as well as concept and strategy development are carried out. Based on the results a catalogue of measures will be developed providing details for defined projects in Nordic and alpine skiing about costs, financing, carrier and operator as well as a forecast of the economic impacts which can be achieved through the realization of the measures.

Feasibility study tourism projects Hochtaunus
Client: Hochtaunuskreis
Year: 2007/08

Feasibility study for various tourism project in the Hochtaunus area: Ski slope with access support system, tree top walk and a summer tobogganning run.


Future concept and feasibility study for the ski slopes in Hellenthal/Eifel
Client: Gemeinde Hellenthal
Year: 2007/08

Assesment of development opportunities for the ski lifts by integrating existing infrastructure and additional activities to achieve a profitable economic result.

Analysis of various locations for the Bergplanet concept
Client: Doppelmayr Seilbahnen GmbH
Year: 2007/08
Doppelmayr is the leading manufacturer of cableways. The idea od Bergplanet is to offer a wide range of winter sports facilities in skiing halls near population centers to enable visitors a wide-range mountain experience. For a short-term realisation of two projects in Germany, various locations had to be identified and analysed. The necessary location analyses and feasibility studies for the preferred locations were carried out by Christoph Schrahe.
Preliminary feasibility study Winter Sports Centre Langewiesen
Client: Langewiesen Town Council, Germany
Year: 2006
In view of the upcoming development of a concept for winter sports offers in the Thuringian Forest which also included the identification of potential development sites, the city of Langewiesen received an assessment of their potential for the development of alpine skiing offers, particularly considering the district Oehrenstock as well as the conflict potential of nature conservation. The objects of the preliminary study were a validity study of the climatic suitability, a terrain analysis based on a digital height model as well as mapping and evaluation of protected areas. The result of the study was the identification of suitable areas for the development of an alpine ski resort. 
Master Plan Alpinsport Harz
Client: Harzer Verkehrsverband e.V., Germany
Year: 2003/2004
In the course of this project planning concepts for the ski areas of the Harz Mountains have been developed. They were based on the evaluation of the snowmaking potential with SnowPlan as well as on a sound analysis of the terrain potential that has been carried out with the aid of a Geographical Information System. Measures in the fields of snowmaking, infrastructure, services and marketing were defined. The identification of potential ecological conflicts as well as an analysis of the market potential and possible target groups for new offers also belonged to the scope of this project that has been supported by the Ministry of Economic Affairs of the state of Lower Saxony.
Feasibility Study winter sports offers Panorama-Park Sauerland
Client: Panorama-Park Sauerland GmbH, Germany
Year: 2003
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. 

 

Feasibility-Study SnowWave Hahnenklee
Client: Goslar Town Council, Germany
Year: 2002
A feasibility study for an indoor ski slope in the Harz Mountains: The project included a detailed survey among existing indoor ski facilities and a market and competition analysis in the area surrounding the potential location. Visitor forecasts for different scenarios were carried out and served as a basis for a projection of operational costs and possible revenues. The project turned out to be not feasible. Alternative strategies for developing winter sports tourism at Hahnenklee were proposed.
Master Plan Wintersport-Arena Sauerland Stage 2
Client: Tourist Board Sauerland, Brilon, Germany
Year: 2001-2002
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.
Spatial development concept Wintersport-Arena Sauerland
Client: Tourist Board Sauerland, Brilon, Germany
Year: 2000-2001
The Tourist Board of the Sauerland region, the Tourist Authority of North-Rhine-Westphalia and the West-German Skiing Association commissioned a detailed study of the winter sports infrastructure including a strength-weakness analysis, a demand analysis, a market potential study and an analysis of the economic impact of the ski tourism. Based on the findings, a development concept for the area's winter sports options and recommendations for future measures were developed. The project was subsidised by the Economic Ministery of North Rhine-Westphalia.
Feasibility Study snowmaking system Alberschwende/Vorarlberg
Client: Ecosign Mountain Resort Planners Ltd., Whistler, Canada
Year: 2001
The renowned company Ecosign Mountain Resort Planners (among others responsible for the planning of the ski-runs for the Winter Olympics 2002 in Salt Lake City) had taken over the development of a ski area master plan for the ski region Alberschwende, a low-altitude resort but easy to access. Christoph Schrahe has taken over the evaluation of the snowmaking potential using SnowPlan in terms of optimizing the snowmaking system.    
Calculation of profitability snowmaking system Bocksberg
Client: KVG Goslar-Hahnenklee, Hahnenklee, Germany
Year: 2000
The Bocksberg Cable Railways had obtained planning permission for the installation of a snowmaking system for the 1.2 km trail from the top of the Bocksberg mountain to the village of Hahnenklee. The Nature Preservation Association lodged a complaint in order to stop the development. They argued that it would not be possible to run the ski area on a sound economic basis. On the basis of a study carried out by SnowPlan it was possible to prove in court that this was not the case. The court ruled in favour of Bocksberg Cable Railways. After two months of construction, the snowmaking system went into operation in November 2001.
Development Concept Summer- and Winter Sports area Monschau-Rohren
Client: Summer and Winter Sports Centre Monschau-Rohren, Germany
Year: 2000
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. 
Feasibility Study snowmaking system Postwiese
Client: Postwiesen Ski Area, Neuastenberg, Germany
Year: 1999 (Monitoring consultancy until 2002)
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%.
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