Fendels: "Patschenlift" Lift For Shoes Developed By HTL Students Now In Operation. Yes, For Shoes...

The summer mountain Fendels is the mountain of the senses. Nature is not only experienced, but above all tangible, thanks to the barefoot path on the Sattelboden. The body is cleansed and strengthened during a 15-minute walk over hill and dale, forest and meadow floor and some water sources. A sophisticated lift solution is used so that visitors to the barefoot path do not have to go back or forth without their shoes: the Patschenlift.

With the commissioning of the Patschenlift, the mountain of the senses on the Fendels summer mountain at the entrance to the Kaunertal is now complete. The lift developed by students from the HTL Imst and HTL Anichstraße transports the hiking boots of the hikers during their exploration tour on the barefoot path

Cross-school diploma thesis

As the name suggests, the Patschenlift is a miniature transport cable car for shoes. At the beginning of the barefoot path, the hiking boots are placed in a numbered wooden box. Using crank technology, barefoot hikers can move it over a distance of 60 meters to the end of the path.

The Patschenlift was planned and implemented as part of a cross-school diploma thesis by students from the HTL Imst and the HTL Anichstraße - in close cooperation with the employees from Sommerberg Fendels and the construction companies involved.

To build a small transport lift from existing parts of an old ski lift of the Kaunertal Glacier - that was the task of Bergbahnen Fendels in 2019 for the teachers and students of the HTL Imst and the HTL Anichstraße. The students thus had the opportunity to work out a project that can also be used in practice. The focus was on sustainable implementation: Existing materials such as scrap iron, wood and stone were used.

Latest technical standards

The material and the technology were redesigned and renewed by the students so that the lift meets the latest technical standards. The electrical engineering department at HTL Anichstraße redesigned the drive and adapted the electrical system components to the new purpose. The structural engineering department at HTL Imst took on the structural engineering - including the erection of the foundations, the design of the stations and the design and implementation of the transport units.

"We would like to thank everyone who took part in the implementation of the Patschenlift," said Franz Wackernell from the Kaunertaler Gletscherbahnen. "Our special thanks go to the HTL Imst and the HTL Innsbruck Anichstraße as well as the companies involved."