Wispile – Once upon a time by Funi, today by Gondola

As exciting as today’s offerings is the history of the Wispile train. Arnold Annen, a farmer from Lauenen near Gstaad, had an ingenious idea. He devised the “Funi”. With his business partner, the hotel owner Oswald von Siebenthal, he installed in 1934 at the Wispile the first Funi Sled on snow, a precursur to a funicular train. This was the corner stone for all mountain trains in the Saanenland.

The well thought-out construction consisted of two sleds fixed to a steel rope. While one sled moved down to the valley, it pulled with a motor the other sled up the hill. From zero to one hundred: With the remarkable capacity of 100 persons per hour, the first “mountain train” started its operation. It did not take long till there were three sleds waiting during popular periods.

Everyone wanted to get to the peak of the Wispile. In 1944 the Funi was turned into a ski lift running on the same line, and today one can reach the Wispile with a gondola train even in summer.

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