SAM Magazine-Brand, Austria, Apr. 25, 2007-The Austrian resort Brand has announced the biggest lift upgrades to date of any European resort for the summer of 2007. The improvements include a massive tram, akin to the Whistler/Blackcomb project, which will link Brand with neighboring resort Burserberg. The new Gulmabahn lift crosses a valley between the sister resorts, and will feature an impressive one-mile single span. The resort also plans to add a new six-pack chair and a new eight-passenger gondola.

The new six-pack lift will rise more than 2,000 vertical feet, and will replace an older portal lift which accessed the core of the ski area, while the gondola will link the village of Brand to the ski area, thus improving access and providing a link to the new Gulmabahn tram. Brand's lift improvements come on the heels of a snowmaking investment of more than 3 million euros last summer.