TL;DR
South Tyrol has approved a full rebuild of the Ciampinoi cable car in Selva di Val Gardena, replacing the current 12-person gondola with a 16-person cabin and a new mountain-station restaurant. Capacity is capped at 3,200 people an hour rather than the 3,600 the operator wanted, and 250,000 euros must go toward compensatory measures. No construction or opening date has been set, though the upgrade is partly aimed at clearing bottlenecks before the 2031 Alpine Ski World Championships.
Ciampinoi's ageing 12-person gondola in Val Gardena has cleared a major approval hurdle
South Tyrol's provincial government has signed off on a full rebuild of the Ciampinoi cable car above Selva di Val Gardena (Wolkenstein), adopting the environmental advisory board's June recommendation to approve the project with conditions attached. It's an important procedural step, but not a green light for construction to start straight away - no timeline for building or opening has been released.
Bigger cabins, smaller capacity increase than requested
The current gondola dates to the late 1980s, runs 12-person cabins, and tops out at 2,400 people an hour - not enough at peak times, according to the operator, given the lift carries both Ciampinoi skiers and Sellaronda circuit traffic passing through Val Gardena. The new system will run 16-person cabins, but South Tyrol's environmental advisory board capped its capacity at 3,200 people an hour rather than the 3,600 the operator had applied for. That's still 800 more than the current lift manages, just short of what was requested. The approval also comes with a 250,000 euro compensatory measures requirement, though the specifics haven't been detailed.
