Finnish ski resort Pyhä with new investment

The Finnish resort of Pyhä isn’t too well known in the UK, but it has been gaining ground gradually over the past decade, thanks in part to a design masterplan from Canadian company called Ecosign, which also laid out Whistler. Next winter Pyhä is hoping to truly emerge on the international ski travel stage with a new 8 million Euro investment, the biggest in its history, on a state-of-the-art high-speed six-seater chair lift.

The new ‘PyhäExpress’ lift will take skiers and boarders to the top of the slopes in just four minutes, meaning more time for actually skiing and boarding back down. It will have a queue-gobbling capacity of 3000 people per hour – good news as the resort hopes to double the number of guests it attracts by 2015.

The 1.1km lift is only the second of its type in the country, and has a pull-down weather protection hood for windy or snowy days.

Five slopes, each with a different level of difficulty can be accessed from the top of the new lift, including runs suited to beginners as well as a completely new International Ski Federation recognised black run that is also being built this summer.