Seilbahn Zugspitze

[3] The original Eibsee Cable Car,[4] which opened in 1963, was a cable car which connected the lower station (973 metres or 3,192 feet above sea level) near lake Eibsee with the top station at 2,950 metres (9,678 ft) above sea level next to the summit of Zugspitze, Germany's highest mountain on the border to Austria.

The cable car from Lake Eibsee was built to provide a faster access to the Zugspitze from its German side, as the rack railway from Garmisch-Partenkirchen does not go directly to the summit and takes much longer.

The technical details of the Eibsee Cable Car and the replacement Seilbahn Zugspitze are summarised in the following table.

Consequently, the rescue vehicle ran down the ropes unrestrained into the passenger gondola that was approximately 280 m (919 ft) below the mountain station.

This was a previously unknown failure scenario and has required other similar aerial tramway systems to review their safety assessments.