Modern tourism by which Kaprun today is characterised, is closely linked to the development of glacier skiing. The turnstile takes visitors from the historic adventure and summer resort tourism to today’s winter tourism. This room, designed by the Gletscherbahnen Kaprun AG, shows our guests the milestones in the touristic development of the Kitzsteinhorn and more.
Guests are invited to take a seat on our small chairlift and take in the room in its entirety. Many details can be seen in this way at your leisure. The first focus of the exhibition is on the builder of the Gletscherbahnen Kaprun (Kaprun glacial aerial lifts), Wilhelm Fazokas – for whose 100th birthday the room was redesigned.
Glacier skiing began in Kaprun in 1915, when Austrian soldiers were trained to fight in the Dolomites during the First World War. After the Second World War, Fazokas arrived in Kaprun and the vision arose to use the glacier as a year-round ski resort. In the 1960s, with the help of technical innovations, the plans were realised and the resulting ski area still forms an integral part of the local tourism industry. The pictures and texts on the walls show visitors the impressive development of the ski area. Innovations are highlighted, technical solutions are explained, pictures of the construction processes are shown, as well as the subsequent use of the infrastructure.
In addition, our guests are shown the evolution of winter sports itself. Important pieces of equipment did not remain unchanged over time, but underwent drastic transformation processes. From leather lace-up boots with screw-on soles to today’s high-tech products, the development of footwear can be seen. Hand in hand with it goes the development of skis. In the 1950s and 1960s, skis were little more than wooden planks formed into a ski-shape with edges attached, but they have developed at a rapid pace into highly specialised sports equipment, the production of which requires constant innovation and material research.
