The Urdenbahn: crossing from Arosa to Lenzerheide

The Urdenbahn is the reason Arosa and Lenzerheide count as one mountain rather than two. It hangs across the Urden valley in a single unsupported stretch, from a station on the Hörnli ridge above Arosa at 2,496 m to Urdenfürggli on the Lenzerheide side at 2,562 m, and the crossing takes roughly five minutes. Two large cabins run in parallel, one in each direction. Nothing stands in the valley beneath them, which is the point: the Urdental was left untouched, and the connection was built over it rather than through it.

What the crossing does

Before January 2014, when the line opened, getting from Arosa to Lenzerheide meant a long road journey around by Chur. The cable car turned that into a five minute ride and produced a combined area of around 225 kilometres of pistes. Both ends sit high, so the Urdenbahn is not a valley lift you catch from the village. From Hotel Altein you reach the Arosa side by taking the Hörnli gondola out of Innerarosa and continuing to the ridge; the crossing begins where the skiing and walking on the Hörnli leaves off.

Winter and summer use

In winter the crossing is the working spine of the ski day. Skiers use it to move between the two halves of the area, most often out to Lenzerheide in the morning and back to Arosa in the afternoon, and the practical detail is simply to watch the last departure time so you are not left on the wrong side of the mountain. What the pistes on either end are actually like belongs on the alpine skiing page.

In summer the cable car serves walkers and riders instead, giving quick access to the high ground on both sides of the Urden valley and making point to point routes possible without a car shuttle. The wider trail network is described under summer hiking in Arosa, and the other high station in the valley is covered on the Aroser Weisshorn page.

Before you go

Mountain cable cars come out of service for scheduled inspection, and the Urdenbahn is out of service for its revision from 17-08-2026 to 19-09-2026, with access through the Urdental restricted during that window. Outside such periods the Arosa mountain railways run full daily service through the main summer season, roughly from the end of June to the middle of October, and again through the winter. Times shift with the calendar, so check the operator on the morning you plan to cross.

The crossing is worth doing once for its own sake, even if you have no intention of skiing the far side. Reception at Hotel Altein, a Faern Collection Resort, will tell you what is running before you buy a ticket, and can suggest a route back over the ridge if the weather turns while you are on the Lenzerheide side.