Mölltaler Gletscher by Flattnach. Kärnten
Gletscherexpress
The Möll Valley Glacier (Mölltaler Gletscher) is the only glacier skiing area in Kärnten, and is open for most of the year for skiing. Transport up to the glacier was improved in 1997 then the Gletscherexpress was opened from the talstation at Flattach-Innerfragant to the bergstation 1,000 metres higher up the mountainside at Stübelesee.
Built by Waagner Büro, each of the two cars – named "Großglockner I" and "Sonnblick I" – carry a maximum of 236 people at a time. The Pitztaler Gletscherbahn (q.v) may be the fastest underground funicular in the world, but the Mölltaler Gletscher, at 4,718 metres, is the longest. Each vehicle has eighteen stepped compartments, and has all-wheel drive on six axles. The vehicles travel at a maximum speed of 12 metre / second (43 km/h) through a tunnel 4.5 metres in diameter. There is a passing loop in the centre of the funicular.
In order to connect to the new funicular, the chair lifts on the glacier were extended, and several more chairlifts and T-bars were installed, including a new 6-person chairlift from beside the new station right up to the 3,122 metre high summit of Schareck mountain. The ski runs were extended at the same time, and now cover 45 km of route.
Until opening, the only way up to the glacier area was to drive, and although prospective skiers may miss the impressive view on the road gown the valley, drivers could be forgiven for not missing the road, with 20+ hairpin bends, overhanging rock faces, and precipitous drops. Five hundred vehicles per day drove up the mountain in the peak season, and a journey that took over 30 minutes now takes 8 on the funicular. As a result of the opening of the electrically-powered railway, the road has been closed to traffic.
The funicular operates "standard" ski lift times, 08:30 – 16:30, seven days per week, unless the weather, not running only when the chairlifts can not operate because of high winds on the mountaintop.
The nearest ÖBB station is Oberfalkenstein, but there is no public transport from the station. A bus service operates from Stila Bahnhof Vorplatz to Flattach town centre, from where a free ski bus takes passengers to the funicular talstation.
ARG members have not yet been able to visit the funicular to take photographs, and the pictures here are from the operators of the line.
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