Funivia Plan de Corones

The Plan de Corones cable car system is the main gateway to one of Italy’s most technically advanced and architecturally remarkable ski resorts. Rising from the town of Brunico at just 935 metres to the flat summit of Plan de Corones at 2,275 metres, it covers an impressive vertical gain of 1,340 metres in a single continuous journey, delivering skiers to the top of a mountain whose distinctive pyramid shape has made it a landmark of the South Tyrolean skyline.

Plan de Corones — Kronplatz in German — is unique in its geometry: the summit is relatively flat, and the runs descend in every direction, north, south, east and west, each facing a different aspect and serving a different clientele and snow condition. This radial layout means that at any hour of the day there are slopes receiving optimal light and that in high season each face drains skier traffic away from the others, reducing congestion. The mountain offers everything from wide, groomed blue cruises for families and beginners to demanding black runs that challenge expert skiers.

The Leitner cable car system installed in 2011 is built to a very high standard and can carry 2,400 persons per hour, providing the throughput needed to serve one of the Dolomiti Superski circuit’s busiest resorts. At the summit, alongside the runs, stands the LUMEN Alpine Photography Museum — housed in a building by Zaha Hadid Architects that has become an architectural landmark in its own right — offering a cultural dimension to the mountain visit that is unusual in the Alps.

The panorama from the top encompasses the entire South Tyrolean mountain landscape from the Zugspitze in the west to the Carnic Alps in the east, with the Dolomites rising to the south and the Zillertal and Stubai Alps across the Austrian border to the north.