Špindlerův Mlýn’s €50 million transformation brings long-awaited ski link closer

Špindlerův Mlýn is investing approximately CZK 1.2 billion—around €49 million—in a transformation designed to solve one of the Czech resort’s longstanding limitations: the separation of its Medvědín and Svatý Petr ski areas. The first stage is scheduled to open on 12 December 2026, allowing skiers to travel from Medvědín towards Hromovka and Svatý Petr without boarding a bus or getting into a car.

The project combines a heated six-seat chairlift, new pistes, two bridges and expanded snowmaking infrastructure around a transport hub beside the Labská reservoir. A second lift, a 10-seat gondola towards Medvědín, is scheduled to complete the connection in the opposite direction for winter 2027/28. Almost half the total investment is being deployed during 2026.

The central improvement is connectivity. Rather than simply adding another lift to the map, the programme changes how visitors can move between the mountains—and how much of their day they can spend skiing rather than transferring between separate sectors.

More than 30 years in the making

A ski connection between the areas has been discussed since 1994. Now, after years of preparation, the individual elements are taking shape around the former P1 car park near the Labská dam, which becomes the project’s central terminal.

“The ‘Propojení’ project represents a fundamental change for Špindlerův Mlýn,” resort director René Hroneš says. “It is not just about a new cable car or a few buildings. We are creating an interconnected ski resort where people will be able to move around more naturally, quickly and comfortably.”

That distinction matters. Ski areas can share a name and ticketing system without offering a continuous skiing experience. At Špindlerův Mlýn, the new infrastructure is intended to remove a physical break in the network, giving visitors a more straightforward route from one principal sector to the other.

The scale is substantial for the resort. Trade publication Seilbahnen International reports that, following the final expansion, the piste offering will grow from approximately 27 kilometres to nearly 40 kilometres. That is a projected completed-project figure, rather than terrain all becoming available this December.

How the first connection will work

For winter 2026/27, skiers will descend from Medvědín on the new Lesní piste to Terminal P1. From there, the Audi Line Přehradní chairlift will take them towards Hromovka, providing onward access to Svatý Petr.

The new Přehradní red piste, built alongside the chairlift route, adds another descent to the network. Two bridges complete essential crossings over the River Elbe and road II/295, the main approach from Vrchlabí.

The direction of travel is important: this winter’s project does not yet create a fully reversible link. Skiers will be able to move from Medvědín to the Svatý Petr side, but the corresponding lift connection back towards Medvědín must wait for the second phase.

That makes December a significant milestone, not the finish line.

Heated seats and a four-minute journey

The first-stage lift is a 1,400-metre Leitner six-seater with heated seats and protective bubbles. It will carry up to 2,000 people an hour, with a journey time of approximately four minutes.

Its DirectDrive system uses a gearless synchronous motor connected directly to the drive pulley. The resort says the arrangement requires less maintenance, operates quietly and consumes approximately five per cent less energy than conventional systems. That is a claim about the lift’s drive technology, not a forecast reduction in the resort’s overall energy consumption.

Hroneš presents the specification as part of a wider operational objective rather than comfort for its own sake.

“It’s not just about building a fast cable car,” he says. “It must operate in such a way that visitors do not have to think about how to get from one place to another and enjoy maximum comfort.”

Capacity, protection from the weather and the positioning of the terminal are therefore intended to work together. The test will be how smoothly the whole route functions once skiers begin using it.

Bridges do more than close a gap

The crossings are among the project’s most consequential structures. They allow the skiing route to negotiate both the river and the access road while separating skiers from road traffic.

The steel structure of the road bridge was installed during the night of 18–19 August 2026, according to the operator’s construction schedule. The resort says the operation was brought forward in response to the weather forecast.

For visitors, the bridges may eventually become an unremarkable part of the journey. From an engineering perspective, however, they are what make a continuous route possible across obstacles that previously divided the skiing.

“Each of these structural elements has its place within the overall project,” Hroneš says. “The bridges, for example, not only provide a crossing over the river and the access road, but above all ensure the safe separation of ski and road traffic.”

Snowmaking supports the new route

A connection is only useful when its linking pistes can operate. The Lesní and Přehradní runs are therefore being incorporated into an expanded snowmaking system, supported by technology for pumping water from the Labská reservoir.

The operator’s autumn programme includes completion of snowmaking infrastructure alongside lift assembly, installation of the haul rope, finishing the stations and final landscaping.

This is an important part of the investment’s logic: lifts, bridges and piste construction are not separate improvements, but components of a route that must function as a whole. Snowmaking is intended to support that reliability, although it does not guarantee that every link will operate regardless of weather or snow conditions.

The gondola completes the picture in 2027

Construction of the second-stage 10-seat gondola from Terminal P1 towards Medvědín is scheduled to begin in April 2027. Completion is planned before winter 2027/28, establishing the full two-way connection.

At that point, P1 becomes the interchange envisaged by the overall scheme: one lift serving the Hromovka side and another providing access towards Medvědín. Visitors should then be able to move between the two main ski sectors without the directional limitation of the first season.

The timetable also explains the roughly €50 million headline. This is a multi-stage programme extending across two construction seasons, not a single chairlift purchase or an investment being completed entirely in 2026.

Modernisation without pretending to be the Alps

The infrastructure programme is being accompanied by a new shared visual identity for the resort and municipality. The branding links the physical redevelopment with a broader effort to present Špindlerův Mlýn as a more coherent destination.

Hroneš is nevertheless careful about comparisons with larger mountain regions.

“We do not want to—and, of course, cannot—be a copy of Alpine resorts,” he says. “We want Špindlerův Mlýn to keep pace with modern European resorts in terms of what it can offer visitors.”

The ambition is therefore less about matching Alpine scale than improving the quality and convenience of the Czech skiing experience. A connected network of nearly 40 kilometres remains different from a vast international ski circuit, but eliminating a bus transfer can still materially improve a day on the mountain.

December opening marks the first test

The new chairlift is scheduled to welcome its first visitors on 12 December, coinciding with the Špindl SkiOpening event. The announced music programme includes Majk Spirit, Skyline, NobodyListen featuring Annet X, and DJ Roxtar, with festivities centred on Svatý Petr.

Beyond the opening celebrations, the more important measure will be operational: how effectively the new descent, terminal, bridges and chairlift work together, and whether visitors find moving between the sectors as straightforward as intended.

After more than three decades of discussion, Špindlerův Mlýn is close to delivering the first working section of its long-promised connection. This December should demonstrate what the investment changes immediately; winter 2027/28 is when the complete network is scheduled to come together.