Ropeways in ski areas are often exposed to avalanches. The new ropeway guideline fixes principles and procedures how to account for avalanche and snow pressure hazards. The two main subjects of the guideline define firstly standards to determine the avalanche and snow pressure forces acting on the structures, and assure secondly safety for the public. To ensure structural integrity, the guideline defines ‘normal’ and ‘accidental’ design avalanches, as well as static snow pressure, which have to be considered in the structural analysis. Temporary safety measures are a commonly used method to avoid avalanche hazards on ski-runs. However, avalanche incidents on ski runs show that there is always a residual danger, which cannot be neglected. Therefore, for exposed areas where people gather (e.g. terminal stations), the guideline requires an additional safety margin: it must be ensured that spontaneous avalanches with a return period of 10 years will not reach these areas. Ten years application of the guideline in consulting work for new and existing ropeways show that the defined standards can be regarded as appropriate for the vast majority of cases. The winter 2008/09 provided some avalanche events that allowed for a first full-scale test of ropeways designed according to the guidelines. We will show typical examples of hazard assessments and proposed safety measures for ropeways.