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  3. Sports / Fitness / Recreation

Bergbahnen

English translation: Mountain Lifts

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
German term or phrase:Bergbahnen
English translation:Mountain Lifts
Entered by: gfish

07:28 Feb 16, 2005
German to English translations [PRO]
Sports / Fitness / Recreation
German term or phrase: Bergbahnen
Aus einer Touristenbroschüre:

Willkommen bei den ***Bergbahnnen*** XXXX! ... im Sommer erschliessen unsere ***Bergbahnen*** ein wundervolles Wandergebiet...

Im Winter kann ich ja "ski lifts" sagen, aber im Sommer?? Und: es handelt sich dabei um alles mögliche: Sesselifte, Gondeln, Schrägaufzüge, .. ich brauch also einen Überbegriff. TIA!
gfish
Local time: 02:11
XXXX Mountain Lifts
Explanation:
Why not simply (mountain) lifts? This is how, for instance, Whistler solves it:
http://www.tourismwhistler.com/to_do/mountains/skiing.asp

MOUNTAIN LIFTS
16 Lifts
2 high speed gondolas
6 high speed quad chairs
2 triple chairs
1 double chair
5 surface lifts

The "Welcome to" thing sounds pretty German to me, I'd tend to just title that section mountain lifts with the name of the mountain.
Selected response from:

Michele Johnson
Germany
Local time: 11:11
Grading comment
perfekt - danke!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
3 +3XXXX Mountain Lifts
Michele Johnson
5Funiculars
Michael Schubert
5 -1mountain railways
Michael Bailey
3 +1cableways and lifts
Nick Somers (X)
2Proper name - leave it
Robert Schlarb


  

Answers


4 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
Funiculars


Explanation:
Is the general term. Plus, it's so fun to say out loud :-)

Michael Schubert
United States
Local time: 02:11
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 12

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Barbara Cashin (X): Also mountain rails - interchangeable
5 mins
disagree  Nick Somers (X): I think it's too specific and doesn't apply to all the means of transport asker quotes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funicular
11 mins
agree  Michael Bailey: Funicular is fun to say out loud - but a funicular is only one type of mountain railway
12 mins
neutral  Michele Johnson: Agree with Nick and also find the register a bit "highfalutin'": can you really imagine a brochure, appealing to the mountinebike set, entitled "Welcome to our Funiculars!"
16 mins
disagree  Robert Schlarb: I am with Nick -- too specific, sounds strange anyway
28 mins
neutral  BrigitteHilgner: The Italian "funicolare" (Latin: funis = rope) just means "cable car".
41 mins
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16 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): -1
mountain railways


Explanation:
A funicular railway (see above) is just one type of railway - running on a rack and pinion system. Mountain railways would encompass cable cars, chair lifts, rack railways etc.

Michael Bailey
Austria
Local time: 11:11
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 16

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Nick Somers (X): Surely a mountain railway, by definition, is on rails not cable
1 min
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21 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
cableways and lifts


Explanation:
This appears to be a more accurate translation of the kinds of transport being asked about.

Plenty of hits for cableways, I don't need to quote.

The headline, of course, is difficult. Suggest you put something entirely different.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 24 mins (2005-02-16 07:52:20 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Welcome to the mountains???

Nick Somers (X)
Local time: 11:11
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 32

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Michael Bailey
1 day 49 mins
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29 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +3
XXXX Mountain Lifts


Explanation:
Why not simply (mountain) lifts? This is how, for instance, Whistler solves it:
http://www.tourismwhistler.com/to_do/mountains/skiing.asp

MOUNTAIN LIFTS
16 Lifts
2 high speed gondolas
6 high speed quad chairs
2 triple chairs
1 double chair
5 surface lifts

The "Welcome to" thing sounds pretty German to me, I'd tend to just title that section mountain lifts with the name of the mountain.

Michele Johnson
Germany
Local time: 11:11
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 7
Grading comment
perfekt - danke!

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Robert Schlarb
3 mins
agree  Nick Somers (X): That could well do it - as an alternative to my suggestion, natch ;-)
11 mins
agree  Michael Schubert: Not as fun as funicular, but the best answer :-)
12 mins
neutral  BrigitteHilgner: But this does not seem to include cable cars!
18 mins
  -> Isn't cable car a subcategory of lifts in general? See e.g. http://www.answers.com/topic/aerial-tramway: "An aerial tramway is a type of aerial lift, sometimes called a cable car, and frequently incorrectly referred to as a gondola"
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35 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 2/5Answerer confidence 2/5
Proper name - leave it


Explanation:
A lot of the resorts here in Austria have this as part of the operating company's or the ski region's name; if this is the case, it should not be translated ("Schneebergbahn" is not translated).

Robert Schlarb
Local time: 11:11
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in GermanGerman

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  BrigitteHilgner: Don't we want to make people who do not know our language understand what is meant? I for one don't like brochures with all sorts of "quaint" expressions I then have to look up somewhere.
14 mins
  -> Your criticism is cogent, however, my suggestion applies only if it does happen to be a proprietary name; I point this out because we recently had the case of "Kulturland Oberösterreich", which did turn out to be proprietary.
agree  Robert Kleemaier: IF it's the proprietary name then definitely leave it. To circumvent Brigitte's concern, the insertion of an adjective before the prop. name might be helpful. Otherwise describe it in the following sentence, context permitting.
11 hrs
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