
Åre Kabinbana - Åre, Jämtlands Län, Sweden
N 63° 24.156 E 013° 04.585
33V E 403920 N 7031889
The cable car in Åre was built in 1975 and 1976 for more attraction of the winter sport resort.
Waymark Code: WM16NPM
Location: Jämtland, Sweden
Date Posted: 09/05/2022
Views: 2
Planning of the cable car started in 1972 as the gouvernment expressed the wish to make the winter sport resort in Åre more attractive for the common people. The lower landing area was built at 421m above sealevel, the upper landing area was at 1274m above sealevel, on the mountain Åreskutan. Four steel pillars with a height between 40m and 60m hold the two wire cables with a length of 3190m and a weight of 43tons each. Two cabins of 16m², that can carry up to 75 passengers, are pulled by a circular dragline - so that one cabin goes up while the other goes down at the same time (using the counterweight principle).
The cable car was built by Fjällbyggarna AB and the Swiss company Habegger in 1975 and 1976, the estimated costs of 7.8 million SEK in 1971 had been risen to 24 million SEK when the works started and another 50 million SEK (and an additional year of building time) were on the bill when the project was finally finished.
Two incidents caused by bad weather were known:
first one was on January 28th, 1989 when a sudden blizzard forced the people to leave the mountain by cable car and the driving cable derailed in the very strong winds, 34 people had to wait for hours for their rescue in a height of nearly 50m.
The second incident occurred on January 3rd in 2013. The driving cable derailed in strong, icy winds as in the first incident, but this time only the four remaining people of the upper landing area were in the cabin.
The trip for the 853m difference in height and 2.9km in length takes about 7 minutes, departures are every twenty minutes. Prices vary depending on the season (summer/winter) and the day of the week for an adult (18 - 64) between roughly 160 SEK and 210 SEK for one trip. The younger and older ones pay a little bit less (up to 40 SEK reduction). In summer 2022 there was a roundtrip ticket available for 270 SEK. It is best to book the tickets ahead in the main season on the Skistar ticket page (select Åre in the dropdown box and the day you want to ride).
References:
- Åre Kabinbana – the fastest way up - Article on the tourism page of Åre
- Åre Kabinbana, Swedish Wikipedia