Taking on ecological & economical duties
Besides achieving synergy from long-standing cooperations with the Salzburg Institute for Ecology, the Hohe Tauern National Park and other renowned research institutes, the company's main focus is on energy efficiency, environmental protection, and renewable energy sources.
The Gletscherbahnen Kaprun AG is Austria's only mountain railway company with a threefold ISO certification in each of its company sectors – for outstanding Quality, Environment and Energy Management.
Quality Management
- The company has its own managers for environment, waste, water & wastewater, fire and work safety. Together with their team, they contribute significantly to fulfilling the high quality standards.
- Guests and visitors are questioned regularly about their satisfaction. The company bases its measures to offer improvement and development on the results.
- Company employees are offered quality professional and personal development training, and with that come varied opportunities for them to advance to other company areas.
- Own apprenticeship managers train people over a period of four years to become cable car technicians.
- An occupational healthcare program evaluates work conditions and promotes health-sustaining sports and leisure activities.
- ISO 9001-certified in all company sectors
- In-house managers for environment, waste, water & wastewater, fire and work safety
- Regular guest surveys
- Employee training and development programs
- Apprenticeship training
- Occupational healthcare
Environment Management
- Natural resources are to be protected and used responsibly. Therefore, the Salzburg Institute for Ecology supports the company when it comes to planning and realizing construction projects. «Kitzsteinhorn 2015», for instance, was developed together. Its aim is to sustainably revegetate Kitzsteinhorn’s upland areas by the seed/sod combination technique.
- Wastewater is discharged via a multiple km long canal system all the way down to the central treatment plant in the Zell basin. An elaborate, in-house logistics concept ensures the entire supply and disposal chain of each facility.
- Free ski bus services reduce individual traffic.
- ISO 14001-certified in all company sectors
- Ecological construction supervision by the Institute for Ecology
- Recultivation & revegetation projects
- Glacier protection through snow farming
- Reduction of individual traffic by offering free ski bus services
Energy Management
- An in-house energy manager as well as energy auditors constantly assess the company's energy and resource balance to make appropriate adjustments for further improvement.
- Under the banner of "Electricity in summer, snow in winter", the company operates the Grubbach hydropower plant. The pumped storage hydropower plant serves as a pumping station that sources water for snow making in winter, while, in summer, the turbines turn melt- and rainwater into electric energy that is in turn used to produce the power needed for snow making in winter.
- Numerous company-owned buildings are equipped with extensive PV panels.
- Buildings are heated through geothermal heat on the one hand and heat energy recovered from the motor drives of various cable cars and facilities.
- Since January 2024, the VERBUND Energy4Business GmbH sources the electrical energy for all Gletscherbahnen Kaprun AG facilities directly from the Kaprun hydropower plants as green electricity – from 100 % renewable, carbon-neutral energy sources.
- ISO 50001-certified in all company sectors
- Self-generated and -gained power from renewable energy sources
- In-house energy manager and energy auditors
- E-charging stations for visitors and employees
Research
The GEORESEARCH Forschungsgesellschaft mbH has been operating the Open-Air Lab on the Kitzsteinhorn together with the Gletscherbahnen Kaprun AG since 2010, examining the impact of climate change on high-alpine surface and underground processes, with climate, glacier, permafrost and landslide activity as core areas of research.
Past projects
Integral Red Deer Management
GlacierRocks
MOREXPERT I und II
Successful partnerships
In the interest of a sustainable, local economy management and being aware of the social responsibility for the region, eye-level partnerships are key. The company is a shareholder of the Zell am See-Kaprun Tourismus GmbH. Numerous tourist projects and events are planned and realized together.
In 2022, the World Tourism Organization awards the Zell am See-Kaprun region one of UNWTO's Best Tourism Villages of 2022.
With TOP OF SALZBURG, the Gletscherbahnen Kaprun AG and the Hohe Tauern National Park completed an ambitious joint project in 2011. It's the highest point in the federal state of Salzburg to be comfortably reachable via cable cars, attracting a large number of international visitors and raising awareness of the National Park idea.
In 2012, the partners sign a permanent cooperation contract that stipulates reciprocal knowledge transfer as well as strong synergies. It is from this partnership that services such as guided Kitzsteinhorn explorer tours with National Park rangers can be offered to visitors.
Company-owned restaurants and bars offer mostly local and freshly-processed products. The Gletscherbahnen Kaprun AG is one of the local economy's largest clients, consequently contributing to maintain and further strengthen regional cycles and living spaces.
After a duration of three years, the KEM Tourism Zell am See-Kaprun project terminated on December 31, 2023, in which the Gletscherbahnen Kaprun AG took part as a partner company. The common goal was to take a crucial step towards a climate-neutral future by developing the flagship Zell am See-Kaprun region.
