Gletscherbahnen Kaprun AG

Gletscherbahnen Kaprun AG was founded in 1963 and is headquartered in the town of Kaprun, located in the Zell am See-Kaprun tourism region in the province of Salzburg. The company operates the Kitzsteinhorn glacier ski resort along with the close-to-town Maiskogel family ski area. Year-round, both of Kaprun’s local mountains offer a vibrant mix of natural landscapes, sports activities, and adventure experiences for both outdoor enthusiasts and leisure visitors. At an elevation of 3,029 meters, for instance, Salzburg’s highest-situated attraction TOP OF SALZBURG provides panoramic views of and fascinating insights into the adjacent Hohe Tauern National Park, the largest nature reserve in the Alps. On-mountain dining establishments at select locations complement the overall offering.

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Timeline of Key Milestones

• 1963
  August 1: Tauernkraftwerke AG, the municipality of Kaprun, and the state of Salzburg establish Gletscherbahnen Kaprun AG. The company's goal is to develop the Kitzsteinhorn into a year-round ski resort.
• 1965
  December 11: The cable car to what is now the Alpincenter at 2,450 meters opens and carries paying guests for the first time.
• 1966
  November 26: The Gipfelbahn begins operation, becoming Austria’s highest cable car and only glacier lift at the time.
• 1968
  The Gipfelhaus – Salzburg’s highest-altitude restaurant – welcomes its first guests at 3,029 meters.
• 1973
  The Alpincenter restaurant opens – featuring a self-service concept that was unprecedented in mountain gastronomy at the time.
• 1974
  The first alpine, weather-independent tunnel railway GBK2 begins operation, transporting guests from the valley to the Alpincenter.
• 1981
  Pylon 7 of the Gipfelbahn is extended to a height of 113.6 meters, making it the world’s tallest cable car pylon until 2017.
• 1982
  For the first time, a panoramic camera is installed to transmit live TV images – located at the summit station of the Kitzsteinhorn at 3,029 meters.
• 1990
  The Kitzsteinhorn is among the first ski resorts to respond to the emerging hype around snowboarding by building a fun park. When the first FIS Snowboard World Cup is held in 1994, the Kitzsteinhorn is chosen as the venue to kick off the competition.
• 2000
  November 11: The darkest day in the history of the Kitzsteinhorn. The uphill-bound tunnel railway GBK2 catches fire inside the tunnel. 155 people lose their lives in the disaster. The world mourns.
• 2006
  With the three snow parks – Glacier Park, Easy Park, and Central Park – the Kitzsteinhorn has become one of the largest freestyle hotspots in the Alps.
• 2010
  Gletscherbahnen Kaprun AG becomes the first Austrian mountain lift company to be certified according to ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 standards.
• 2011
  TOP OF SALZBURG officially opens: with it, the Kitzsteinhorn becomes home to the most elevated attraction in the state of Salzburg. At 3,029 meters above sea level, visitors find two panoramic viewing platforms – “TOP OF SALZBURG” and “National Park Gallery” – as well as Austria’s highest-situated movie theater, “Cinema 3000” Also part of the experience: the 360-m-long “National Park Gallery” tunnel, featuring six information stations offering insights into the nature, geology, and technology of the Hohe Tauern.
• 2012
  Gletscherbahnen Kaprun AG and the Hohe Tauern National Park sign an open-ended cooperation agreement – aimed at continuous knowledge exchange and strong synergy effects. One result of this partnership is the ability to offer guided informational tours with National Park rangers on the Kitzsteinhorn, both in summer and winter – helping to raise environmental awareness among visitors.
• 2019
  Connecting Kaprun to the Kitzsteinhorn via the Maiskogel by cable car – a dream cherished for generations in the Zell am See-Kaprun region. The 3K K-onnection finally brought it to life: Salzburg’s first tricable gondola links up with the top station of the MK Maiskogelbahn and carries guests to the Langwied area. The K-ONNECTION cable car axis stretches 12 kilometers – from the center of Kaprun at 768 meters above sea level all the way up to the summit station on the Kitzsteinhorn at 3,029 meters. Nowhere else in the Eastern Alps is there a continuous lift line that covers more distance or overcomes a greater difference in elevation.