Firnjoch Direct
Base to summit without an intermediate stop. Four towers, one continuous span over the Grauwand couloir. The working route in winter.
- Span
- 4,180 m
- Rise
- 1,818 m
- Ride
- 9 min 40 s
Talstation · 1,046 m · Line open
The rope runs
every eighteen
seconds.
An aerial cableway from the valley floor at Vordergrat to the Firnjoch saddle at 2,864 m. Four towers, twenty-four detachable cabins, one continuous 46 mm haul rope. Scroll to ride it.
Next departures — bay 2
08:00 Cabin 03 First haul — freight priority
08:20 Cabin 07 Ski school block booking
08:40 Cabin 01 Open seats 11
09:00 Cabin 05 Open seats 24
Cabins detach in the station and run at 0.3 m/s — you board level, at walking pace, without the rope stopping.
I
Three ways up the same rope
Mittelalp Halt
Stops at the mid-station for the alp trail and the pasture huts. Cabins detach from the rope at 0.3 m/s so prams and dogs board level.
- Span
- 2,410 m
- Rise
- 742 m
- Ride
- 5 min 10 s
Nordgrat Freight
Two cabins per shift are converted to freight boxes for hut resupply. Runs 05:30 and 19:15, outside passenger hours.
- Span
- 3,960 m
- Rise
- 1,604 m
- Ride
- 11 min 05 s
II
What the cabin is
- Cabin type
- Detachable 10-seat monocable
- Fleet
- 24 cars, 2 freight conversions
- Interval
- 18 s at full haul
- Rope speed
- 6.0 m/s line, 0.3 m/s station
- Haul rope
- 46 mm, six-strand, full-locked
- Capacity
- 2,000 persons/hour/direction
Windows are 8 mm laminated, floor-to-shoulder on the valley side. Every second car carries four bike hooks from June.
III
The record, in numbers we publish
0 years in operation
0 passenger injuries on the line
0 ascents carried since 1985
0 % of scheduled hours run
The haul rope is magnetically scanned end to end every autumn and the grips are pull-tested on a rolling twelve-week cycle. Wind holds are called at sustained 22 m/s at Tower IV, which is the exposed one — that is a published number, not a judgement call made in the machine room.
IV
Four seasons, four timetables
Winter
01 Dec — 14 Apr
08:00 — 16:30
Full haul, 18-second interval, night runs on Thursdays until 21:00.
Spring
15 Apr — 31 May
09:00 — 16:00
Reduced fleet. Rope inspection window; expect single-cabin gaps.
Summer
01 Jun — 30 Sep
07:30 — 18:00
Bike hooks on every second cabin. Mid-station open for the alp trail.
Autumn
01 Oct — 30 Nov
Closed
Annual overhaul: sheave train, grip test, full non-destructive rope scan.
Bergstation Firnjoch · 2,864 m · arrival
You are at the top station.
Wind at Tower IV 14.2 m/s
Summit air -6.4 °C
Visibility 34 km
Line status Running
The top station holds a 90-seat room, a boot hall and the machine floor behind glass — the bull wheel is 4.6 m across and you can watch the grips open as each cabin comes in off the rope.