The New Barzio–Piani di Bobbio Cable Car Races Toward the Finish Line: Ready for Winter 2026/2027

Construction is proceeding at a steady pace on the new cable car that will connect Barzio to Piani di Bobbio, one of the most significant projects in decades for the future of the Valsassina ski resort. The project, aimed at significantly boosting transport capacity and improving service for both residents and tourists, is now entering its most delicate phase: in recent days, crews completed the installation of 16 support pylons along the line and the laying of the haul-and-carry rope, a cable that alone weighs 70 tonnes. To take stock of the progress and the outlook for next winter, Massimo Fossati, president of Imprese Turistiche Barziesi S.p.A. (ITB) — the company that manages the Piani di Bobbio facilities — provided an update on the project in a recent interview.

A system that doubles capacity

The new lift will replace the historic cable car that entered service in 1993, keeping the same route but dramatically changing its performance. The new 10-seat CWA cabins — down from 12 seats on the current system — will travel at a maximum speed of 6.5 metres per second, raising transport capacity from the current 1,800 to more than 3,400 passengers per hour, almost double the previous figure. ITB's stated goal is to significantly cut the queues that used to form on the busiest days, particularly for the descent back down to the valley.

The new stations, more compact than the existing ones, will be fitted with photovoltaic panels. According to Fossati in an earlier interview, overall energy consumption will rise in absolute terms because of the system's greater capacity, but will fall by around 20% when calculated per passenger carried — a figure the company points to as evidence of the sustainability of its technology choices.

A site that started a year late to protect the ski season

The project, with an overall value estimated at between €20 and €23 million depending on the stage of the budget, was originally meant to break ground back in spring 2025. Fossati himself explained at the time that the lengthy and complex authorisation process left the company with a choice: start work immediately and risk disrupting the following ski season, or wait until summer 2026. ITB chose the latter, pushing the start of construction back by a year.

A key milestone in the administrative process came in May 2025, when Barzio's town council recognised the new cable car as a work of "public utility," with only one abstention — a minority councillor who has one of the lift's pylons on his own land. Fossati described that green light as "an important signal that helps the private investor take on major future investments," a sign that the local area understood the importance of the project.

With construction actually getting under way in summer 2026, Piani di Bobbio was reachable only on foot for the entire summer season, while crews worked simultaneously on the valley and mountain stations — now complete — and on assembling the line. What remains is delivery of the cabins for final testing: official trials are expected in November 2026.

One piece of a €35 million plan for Valsassina

The Barzio–Piani di Bobbio project doesn't stand alone. It's part of the broader "Territorial pact for the integrated development of the mountain areas and ski and hiking districts of Piani di Bobbio-Valtorta and Piani di Artavaggio," unanimously approved by the Comunità Montana della Valsassina in November 2024, which mobilises a total of €35 million. The package also includes replacing the Moggio–Piani di Artavaggio cable car (€15 million, largely funded by the Lombardy Region) and safety upgrades to the Nava piste (€1.5 million, including a new snowmaking system).

For the Barzio cable car, around €10 million comes from ministerial funds allocated under the 2023 round of the "Fund for the modernisation, safety and decommissioning of cable-lift systems," with the remainder of the investment covered directly by ITB. That self-financing capacity is underpinned by the company's financial results: in 2023 ITB posted revenue of nearly €8.9 million, up from €6.8 million in 2022.

Why it matters for Barzio — and for Milan

Piani di Bobbio-Valtorta is, as ITB is fond of noting, the ski resort closest to Milan and the towns of the Lombardy plain — a factor that over the years has drawn hundreds of thousands of visitors to the valley during peak winter periods alone. A faster, higher-capacity cable car is therefore not just a technical upgrade, but a bet on Valsassina's ability to keep attracting weekend hiking and skiing traffic from the Milan metropolitan area, in both winter and summer.

Not every project tied to the area's modernisation has drawn the same consensus, it should be said: a road-access project linked to the zone's tourism development has been criticised by WWF and Legambiente, who described it as rooted in "old 1970s thinking" geared toward hit-and-run tourism rather than sustainable mobility — a debate that runs in the background of the valley's wider investment package.

The goal: a ribbon-cutting for the Sant'Ambrogio holiday weekend

If the schedule holds, the new cable car will enter service in time for the start of the 2026/2027 ski season, with an inauguration set for December 2026, timed to coincide with the Sant'Ambrogio holiday bridge — traditionally one of the first big dates on Valsassina's winter tourism calendar. For Fossati and ITB, it marks the final stretch of a long and administratively complicated process, but one the company sees as decisive for the future of a ski area that has, in recent years, seen both its financial results and the scale of public and private investment in its territory continue to grow.