Gletscherbahnen Kaprun AG

The Gletscherbahnen Kaprun AG was established in 1963 and is based in the Pinzgau municipality of Kaprun in the Zell am See-Kaprun region in the federal state of Salzburg. The company operates the glacier ski as well as year-round nature and panorama experience resort Kitzsteinhorn, the Maiskogel ski and family mountain, and the beginner’s ski area Lechnerberg. From the valley all the way up to the summit station at 3,029 meters, little and big sports enthusiasts, nature lovers and day trippers enjoy a rich variety of nature activities directly at the Hohe Tauern National Park border, Alps’ largest nature reserve.

Company Profile ›

Chronology of significant events

• 1963
  August 1: The Tauernkraftwerke AG, the Kaprun municipality and the state of Salzburg found the Gletscherbahnen Kaprun AG (JSC) with the aim of creating a year-round ski resort on the Kitzsteinhorn.
• 1965
  December 11: The cable car to today's Alpincenter on 2,450 meters comes into operation and transports paying visitors for the first time.
• 1966
  November 26: The Gipfelbahn (summit cable car) comes into operation – Austria's highest cable and only glacier car at the time.
• 1968
  The Gipfelhaus, Salzburg's highest-situated restaurant, welcomes guests on 3,029 meters.
• 1973
  The Alpincenter restaurant opens. Its self-service concept is unprecedented at the time in mountain gastronomy.
• 1974
  The first Alpine and weather-independent underground mountain railway GBK2 comes into operation, transporting visitors from the valley to the Alpincenter.
• 1981
  The summit cable car's Pylon 7 is built up to 113.6 meters, thereby becoming world's highest cable car pylon until 2017.
• 1982
  For the first time ever, a panoramic camera for the transmission of live TV images is installed on a mountain – at Kitzsteinhorn's summit station on 3,029 meters.
• 1990
  The Kitzsteinhorn is one of the first ski resorts worldwide to react to the budding hype around snowboarding by constructing a snowpark. When the first FIS Snowboard World Cup takes place in 1994, the Kitzsteinhorn is chosen as venue for the start of the competitions.
• 2000
  November 11: the blackest day in the history of the Kitzsteinhorn. The descending underground mountain railway GBK2 catches fire, claiming 155 lives. The whole world mourns.
• 2006
  The three snowparks Glacier Park, Easy Park and Central Park make the Kitzsteinhorn one of Alps' largest freestyle hotspots.
• 2010
  The Gletscherbahnen Kaprun JSC is Austria's first mountain cableway company to become ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certified.
• 2011
  TOP OF SALZBURG is officially inaugurated, providing the Kitzsteinhorn with Salzburg's highest-situated attraction. On 3,029 meters, there are the two panoramic platforms "TOP OF SALZBURG" and "National Park Gallery", Austria's highest-situated movie theater "Cinema 3000", the 360-m-long tunnel "National Park Gallery", which features six info station that exhibit all kinds of interesting facts about nature and technology in the Hohe Tauern.
• 2012
  The Gletscherbahnen Kaprun AG and the Hohe Tauern National Park sign a permanent cooperation contract that stipulates reciprocal knowledge transfer as well as strong synergies. It is from this partnership that offerings such as guided Kitzsteinhorn explorer tours with National Park rangers can be offered to visitors in summer and winter – which also help to raise awareness.
• 2019
  Connecting Kaprun and the Maiskogel with the Kitzsteinhorn via cable cars – a dream cherished for generations in the Zell am See-Kaprun region. This dream has eventually become reality thanks to the 3K K-onnection: Salzburg's first tricable gondola lift starts by the MK Maiskogelbahn top station and transports visitors to the Langwied area. The 12-km-long cable car route K-ONNECTION starts in the Kaprun town center on 768 meters and reaches up to the Kitzsteinhorn summit station on 3,029 meters, making it both the longest in the Eastern Alps and the one that conquers most vertical meters.