Austria’s Kaunertal glacier will unveil a new ‘Funifor’ style cable car this autumn that has been designed to cope with the thawing of the glacier it provides access to.

The new Falginjochbahn lift will cope with the thawing of the glacier

A spokesman from the area said: “Due to the glacier retreat of the last decades, the area of the Weißseeferner has changed a lot. Glaciological and geological surveys also point to the expected future changes in this area. In order to cope with this imminent change in terrain, a type of lift was chosen that can overcome large spans with a maximum of two support tower, is wind-stable and occupies as little space as possible.”

Doppelmayr’s new funifor lift design has cable car style cabins but supported below two cable, hanging widely (4.6 metres/15 feet) apart.  The effect of this design is that the cable provide greater stability and the lift can run closer to the ground than traditional cable cars, making it further less exposed to wind. The cabins can also run independently of each other and the first Falginjochbahn lift will be a single cabin making a 3.9 minute ascent every 10 minutes after it has returned to the base. However a second lift is already planned to double capacity.

The new Falginjochbahn lift starts right next to the car park at the glacier restaurant at 2,750 m and ends at the Falginjoch at 3,113 m, replacing two T bar drag lifts on the glacier, Weissseeferner I + II, which are no longer viable due to the retreating ice and were dismantled at the end of last season.

The 2km long lift, the first in Austria to have 100 passenger cabins, will have just two support towers, 1,500m metres apart.

The lift will be much more user friendly than the T Bars and Kaunertal are planning for use by disabled visitors and families with young children.  Formerly the beginner area was located between the two T Bar lifts so a new state-of-the-art beginner and children’s area with conveyor lift is being created in conjunction with the new lift.

Kaunertal’s autumn ski and board season is due to begin on 28 September with a big annual Snowpark Opening KTO on 11 to 13 of October.  The completion and opening of the Falginjochbahn is scheduled for the end of November 2019.

Categories: Austria