Perched on armchairs and protected from the snow by a weather protection hood, guests who sat in the new "K1" chairlift during its inauguration yesterday enjoyed a comfortable ride in Willingen, western Germany.

Costing €10 million (S$15.5 million) to build, the 1.5km-long K1 claims to be the most modern chairlift system in Germany, and replaces the 50-year-old Kohler-hagen lifts. Its eight-seater cars are able to ferry a total of 3,000 people up the Ettelsberg mountain every hour.

Far from only transporting skiers in the winter, the chairlift serves a different function during the summer, as its chairs can be converted to carry bicycles.