Kitzsteinhorn

From 1961 until 1965, Austria's first glacier ski resort was created on the Kitzsteinhorn; in the state of Salzburg, it remains the only one. The "Kitz" has been characterized particularly by one thing over the decades: change – in climate, in technology, in requirements.
 

Creation of Austria's first glacier ski resort
 

• 1825
  As part of the Glockner Group on the Hohe Tauern's Main Chain of the Alps, the Kitzsteinhorn is located in the municipality area of Kaprun in the state of Salzburg. Its summit rises 3,203 meters above sea level; in 1825, imperial military geometers select it as triangulation point for Austria's first map. Hans Entacher, a native of Kaprun, is 26 years old at the time and widely known as "Ranggler Hågmoar" (i.e. a master of a traditional local form of wrestling). He is hired as a mountain guide for the first successful ascent.
• 1878
  The Österreichische Touristenklub (Austria Tourist Club) builds the Salzburger Hütte and secures the ascent to the Kitzsteinhorn with wire ropes. The Krefelder Hütte is opened in 1908 by the Alpenvereinssektion (Alpine club section) Krefeld.
• 1915
  When WWI erupts in 1915, the Austrian army needs a mobile troop on skis for war in the Alps. The Kitzsteinhorn is chosen as training area, marking the beginning of glacier skiing.
• 1945
  By the end of WWII, US troops occupy Kaprun and establish a summer ski school for their soldiers on the Kitzsteinhorn. After the Americans' initial euphoria fades, the ski area falls into oblivion. Eventually, a former ski instructor of the German Gebirgsjäger (mountain light infantry) rediscovers the Kitzsteinhorn: Wilhelm Fazokas.
• 1965
  The native-of-Vienna engineer is drawn to Kaprun in 1946 due to power plant construction. Here, Fazokas rises to the Tauernkraftwerke operations manager in the course of 15 years. In 1961, he is elected Mayor of Kaprun. That same year, he begins to technically open up the Kitzsteinhorn; his aim: creating a glacier ski resort. The first cable car to the Kitzsteinhorn is constructed. The Gletscherbahnen Kaprun AG (JSC) is founded in 1963, with Fazokas as CEO until 1978. On December 11, 1965, the completed cable car transports first paying visitors to today's Alpincenter. The following year, the Gipfelbahn (summit cable car) also comes into operation.
• 2000
  The first Alpine underground mountain railway GBK2 has been transporting visitors from the valley to the Alpincenter for 25 years, when a terrible catastrophe occurs on November 11, 2000: A fire breaks out in the cable car, claiming 155 lives. The whole world mourns.
• 2001
  From 2001 to date, the Gletscherbahnen Kaprun JSC has invested around 220 million euros in new cable car and lift facilities as well as quality control and improvement. In 2001 and 2002, the cable cars Gletscherjet 1 and 2 are opened to replace GBK2. In 2010, the Gletscherbahnen Kaprun JSC is the first mountain cableway company to become ISO 9001 certified, the international standard specifying requirements for quality management systems; moreover, the company is also ISO 14001 and ISO 50001 certified (effective environmental management system and energy management system).
• 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.