"Due to climate change: the Hohe Winde ski lift could one day be used by bikers" - the subjunctive mood in the title of the newspaper article says a lot. A lot still needs to happen before mountain bikers can actually hang on to the bars of the tow lift.

At least two groups are already enthusiastic about the idea: the operators of the ski lift and mountain bikers - although the latter are not mentioned in the article in the Basler Zeitung or on srf.ch. However, it can be assumed that they would welcome a small bike park with a lift.

The Hohe Winde ski lift has been transporting skiers from 760 to 1060 meters above sea level since 1976. However, it no longer does this all that often in its fifth decade of operation. The last major snowfall at the beginning of January made a handful of days of operation possible, then came the onset of warm weather and the fun was over again. In the first few years, the lift was still in operation for a few weeks each winter, writes the Basler Zeitung. Now it only operates for a few days. If at all. Several winters have already passed without a single day of operation in Schwarzbubenland.

First clarifications have been made

But the operators are not giving up. "Our grandparents and our parents built and maintained the ski lift, and now we are also putting our heart and soul into this task," says Mirjam Jeker to the Basler Zeitung newspaper. She is the manager of the Hohe Winde ski hut, which was recently restored with more optimism than climate studies. After all, it functions as an excursion restaurant and accommodation even without snow.

Pascal Grolimund is President of the Board of Directors of Skilift Hohe Winde AG. He tells the newspaper that he has been approached time and again with the desire for summer operation. He has already made an initial clarification: The lift could be modified so that mountain bikers could be hauled up the 300 meters in altitude sitting on their bikes. In his opinion, summer operation would even make it possible to convert the lift from diesel to electric power.

Now it is a lot easier to use snow-covered cow pastures as a ski slope than to operate bike trails while the farmers let their cows graze. Grolimund is also aware of this. After all, the Forum Schwarzbubenland is keen on the idea of a bike park on the Hohe Winde. This association promotes the location, including with tourism projects. The forum has already conducted a survey among ski lift operators. Funds for the tourism project would also be available. However, the interested parties still have to go through all the procedures to be able to build bike trails. The Hohe Winde mountain bike lift is still just an idea.