After six years of planning and approval procedures, Seilbahn Weissenstein AG was given the green light to build the new mountain bike trail on Solothurn's local mountain. The trail was almost completed by Flying Metal GmbH when objections to the construction of the starting platform fluttered in. After arriving on the Weissenstein, the platform is used to guide hikers and mountain bikers. Pro Natura drew the canton's attention to the fact that the planned platform would not comply with the legal distance from the forest, not least without even a single tree having to be felled.

All efforts by Seilbahnen Weissenstein to obtain an exceptional permit failed before the Solothurn Administrative Court. To prevent the end of the entire project, Seilbahn Weissenstein AG is now making a compromise and accepting a 24 square meter smaller platform. "Only the operation of the bike route will show how big the restriction is due to the unnecessarily cramped space in the starting area," says Konrad Stuber, Managing Director of Seilbahn Weissenstein AG.

Construction of the starting area at the mountain station will begin immediately. Construction work on the bike trail, which is still 300 meters short of completion, will also resume with its construction. Furthermore, the trail needs a reshape before it can be used, as the vegetation has already taken over in many places, explains Ramon Hunziker from the trail construction company Flying Metal.

The official opening is scheduled for August 24 and 25, 2024.

seilbahn-weissenstein.ch