SUSTAINABILITY IN PRACTICE

The Stubaier Gletscherbahnen take care to treat nature and the existing resources as carefully as possible: Measures range from targeted energy management to renaturation of the pistes and the advantages of the reservoirs to environmental-friendly transport of guests and employees.

CO² POLLUTION AND YOUR SKIING HOLIDAYS

A study on CO2 emissions during your skiing holidays:

The most important factor contributing to one’s carbon footprint in relation to holidays is the journey to get to your destination. That’s a big chance actually, since it is in our hands how a day skiing effects the environment. All, who travel a long way on their own or even fly halfway around the world produce a lot of CO2. But if more people travel in your car or even better you travel by bus or train, you will make a sustainable contribution towards the preservation of our glacier.

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Blick über die Gipfel am Stubaier Gletscher

Two thirds of the Stubai Alps are under a protection order

The conflicts surrounding the last undeveloped spots are mostly staged, in reality there is little proof.

Two thirds of the Stubai Alps are under a protective order. The ski areas cover less than two percent of the area.

The borders of the ski areas are mostly defined. The time of big conflicts are actually over, even if some doubters refuse to believe it.

ENERGY MANAGEMENT

All lifts are operated by electricity which comes exclusively from renewable energy sources.

A good example for energy efficiency on the Stubai Glacier is the 3S Eisgratbahn, which was built in 2016.
This high-performance lift uses less energy thanks to its design with two suspension ropes and a pull rope, as well as the direct drive, since the friction losses are significantly lower compared to single-rope orbits. If the capacity utilisation of the cabins going downhill is higher, electricity will be generated and fed into the network.

Gedeckte Tische im Schaufelspitz indoor mit Blick aufs Skigebiet im Winter

RECUPERATION IN RESTAURANTS

A significant part of the required energy is used by the restaurants. The guest rooms must be heated and aired. The room temperature is regulated by an airing system with warmth recuperation. Energy is retrieved from the warm outgoing air and added to the incoming fresh air to heat it up. The lost heat of the lifts also support the heating of the restaurants.

LESS TRAFFIC

285 employees of the Stubaier Gletscherbahnen use the installed bus service. If each of the employees got to and from work on their own, many more cars would travel there.  Thanks to the shuttle service of the Stubaier Gletscherbahnen, only 31 small buses are required. In addition, there are frequent and free ski buses for all guests in the entire valley.  

Logo der Initiative ÖBB Nightjet zum Schnee

COOPERATION WITH THE AUSTRIAN RAILWAYS

Cooperation with the ÖBB

Get to the Stubai Glacier in a climate-friendly way by overnight train. The ÖBB Nightjet will bring you conveniently, stress-free and without being stuck in traffic to the Stubai Glacier so that you can enjoy your first day of skiing right from the start.

More information on the cooperation with the Austrian Railways (ÖBB)

 

Familie wandert von der Mittelstation über den Speichersee Richtung Eisgrotte unterhalb der 3S Gondelbahn im Sommer am Stubaier Gletscher

ADVANTAGE OF THE RESERVOIRS

  • Basically no water is spent for artificial snow making, but the water is temporarily stored in the reservoirs and in the snow and then returned to nature with the melting of the snow at a later time.
  • The water is mostly withdrawn from rivers in periods of abundance (melt and rain water during the summer months).
  • Artificial snow is made from water and cold air (no additives, a pure nature product!).
  • Sensible positioning of the reservoirs on the mountain to use them for refilling with melt water from a large area, piste de-watering, water from the slopes etc, and to operate with sufficient inherent pressure in the snow-making season.
  • A performance-efficient snow-making system ensures basic snow cover in in a relatively short time. This way the cold days and nights without wind can be optimally used.
Präparierte Pisten am Stubaier Gletscher

RENATURATION AND REVEGETATION OF THE PISTES

  • During construction works all works are carried out as eco-friendly as possible: e.g. grass swards are taken out carefully and after the works put back in the correct position (the same applies to bigger stones).
  • Renaturation of stone riprap/embankments/damns with native plants – e.g. Fernau Trail: Seeds of different plants were harvested in the area of the Stubaier Gletscherbahn in autumn, grown in the winter (Seidemann market garden) and planted into the embankments and stone ripraps in spring (cushion plants, primroses, gentian, saxifrage…).
  • Employees of the Gletscherbahnen plant plants that are suitable for the location until the restoration is sustainably secured.
Wiener Schnitzel am Stubaier Gletscher

BEST DOMESTIC QUALITY FOR 44 YEARS

BEST DOMESTIC QUALITY FOR 44 YEARS

Whether it comes to the building of the 3S Eisgratbahn lift or the ingredients for our restaurants with high culinary standards:

The Stubaier Bergbahnen rely on companies from the valley in many areas. The Stern butchery located in Neustift has been a regional supplier since the very beginning.

GLACIER PROTECTION

SUCCESSFUL SNOW CONSERVATION

Whatever causes the current glacier retreat – natural cycles or the influence of men, who might drastically speed up the global warming – the glaciers need our protection and we need our glacier.  

The Stubai Glacier has been very lucky, because it was one of the first to enjoy pioneering measures for active glacier protection. In the early years of the third millennium the scientists and practitioners thought about how to prevent the ice melt at particularly neuralgic points or to slow it down at least. Based “glacier tables”, where a rock boulder protects the ice from ablation on sunny days, they came up with the ideal to protect the snow cover by a mat of fibres.