Expert in mountain railways, ski lifts and ski halls: a desirable Native of Bayersbrunn from Korea to New Zealand – Baiersbronn and surrounding area

Baiersbronn-Mitteltal – but if winter sports are hot in the Black Forest, you can find them there. In its ski lifts on the Vogelskopf in Württemberg in the Baiersbronn region or in the ski lift on the Zuflucht in the Freudenstadt region. Then it returns to its roots. “The more time I have,” admits the 53-year-old businessman.

Christian Zimmermann was born and raised in Mitttal and lived in Baden-Baden for nearly 20 years. He is the founder and owner of the consulting company “Eco-SnowDrive” which specializes in providing advice and support for the construction of mountain railways, ski lifts and ski halls. It all started with parent ski lifts and a smart idea: Christian Zimmermann trains snowmobile drivers and teaches how to set up an ecologically and economically ski slope while saving up to 50 percent of fuel. “With a consumption of about 50 liters an hour, that’s a lot,” he says with a smile.

But from the beginning. Christian Zimmerman was definitely not born with global business relationships, not even when he started his career as a trainee at his parents’ distillery. But even more than the fire water from the Black Forest, the boy was interested in the gigantic snow mat that his father Klaus Erik used to prepare snow in his Vogelskopf ski lift, which was built in 1969, and the one he had bought in 1980.

Even as a child, the boy had so much experience maneuvering heavy machinery that he would soon belong to the PistenBully team of the all-terrain vehicle manufacturer Kässbohrer. There he trained himself as a ‘development assistant’ to test the driver and short-term sales manager in theory and practice, and shortly thereafter he became self-employed, still working in association with Laupheim.

In addition, he developed his family’s two elevators – which for many years also included the Lamm elevator in Kniebis – into ultra-modern systems. It controls elevators equipped with web cameras via computer largely.

The idea came while on vacation

She gave him a ski vacation in Austria and the “poorly equipped” slope there is the idea of ​​establishing what would possibly be the world’s first driving school for snow drivers. A school where drivers must learn to use the versatility of devices in practical use effectively and economically.

The same applies to vehicles used to maintain cross-country ski runs. His knowledge of artificial snow and snow, wind and weather, and his talent for machines and systems were wandering the branch.

Zimmerman was brought in as a consultant for new systems or as a specialist in modernizing chair lifts and gondola lifts.

His orders range from asking for a factory tender to overseeing construction or presentation work. These include an indoor ski area in Kuala Lumpur that operates 365 days a year, and more recently an indoor ski area in New Zealand. “It’s profitable,” says Zimmerman with satisfaction.

He can hardly forget his most exciting mission: “That was Mount Hermon in Israel, which is an elevator in the prohibited military zone at an altitude of more than 2,200 meters in the border area between Lebanon, Israel and Syria, and thus was targeted by thousands of missiles.”

Despite its breadth, Christian Zimmermann remains an important concern in the Black Forest: “allowing children and families to enjoy winter sports in their home.”