With a glacier as your workplace

Christian Reimair, 55, is a technician and works with the cable cars at the Stubai glacier. It is busy all year around, summer and winter. The most important aspect of his job is to make sure all tourists can move around the glacier area quickly, easily and safely. It is the higher level of accuracy, and a lot of responsibility rests in his experienced and knowledgeable hands.

   - My working days is to ensure that we always have a flow of things. I serve all machines, maintain them and make sure that everything works smoothly. When things do not work as it is supposed too, we notice it very quickly around here, so we have to work fast and effectively in the event of an emergency.

   - I meet probably 7,000 people on a normal day. During winter it can be up to 11,000 people making their way up the glacier. We do everything we can to make this place as safe as possible for everyone here.

Christian Reimair knows his alpine environments inside and out and does not get unnecessarily stressed.

   - For example, avalanche explosions are common and can often be heard, but it is nothing dramatic for us. It is part of our everyday life.

New ski lifts are constantly being built and the tourism industry is increasing every year at the Stubai glacier. The Snow Kingdom, one of the nicknames for the area near the glacier, is covered by snow between October and June. During the other months it turns into popular hiking trails, which are also filled with thousands of visitors every day.

   - I live in Fulpmes myself. It is located about 20 kilometres from here. When I am not working, I practice my hobby, which is to gather herbs and spices. It can be for making my own “Indian medicine” that helps when you cannot sleep or when you feel physically ill. I process the dried plants to make ointments etc, almost like the American indigenous medicines.

Facts

Name: Christian Reimair.
Age: 55.
City: Fulpmes, Austria.
Employer: Wintersport Tirol.
Occupation: Cable car technician. 

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