Despite this, in 1896 the line went ahead.By 1905, things had become sufficiently serious for the League for the Preservation of Swiss Scenery to be launched, soon to be followed by its English branch. George Pilkington, president of the Alpine Club that had – intentionally or otherwise – done so much to publicise the Alps, also felt obliged to issue a call to order. “Now that their slopes are being disfigured with unnecessary railways, their cliffs degraded with iron lifts, and their noblest glacier threatened by a wire sledge run, it is time that Englishmen should heartily co-operate with those who have the right to protect their native mountains and take a share in the noble work of preserving for future generations the healing and mystery that have charmed and elevated their lives.”In the years up to the First World War, such calls as these went largely unheeded, though the war itself and the economic crises that culminated in the Wall Street crash of 1929 then provided dampeners. It was after the Second World War that the genie really clambered out of the bottle. In Austria itself in 1945 there were, in all, 25 cable cars, ski-lifts and mountain railways By 1970 there were something approaching 2,000. Even then, the alpine scholar Professor Ronald Clark could write, “It is difficult to underestimate the physical changes that have taken place in the Alps over the last 100 years.” Thirty years later there are 50 million people visiting the Alps every year.

There are now more than 600 resorts and some 41,000 ski runs, capable of handling 1.5 million visitors a year.It is not surprising that the alpine environment is showing signs of strain. According to some estimates the volume of the alpine glaciers has contracted by a third over the past quarter of a century. The permafrost on which many of the higher structures in the Alps are built, not least the cable-car stations, is beginning to melt. Some see the terrible avalanches of last year and the floods in the Aosta valley earlier this autumn as signs of incipient climate change.We cannot of course single out the authorities in Kaprun for granting permission for the funicular to be built. But we can blame ourselves as a society for exploiting the Alps to such an extent that we have turned them into the most environmentally threatened mountain system in the world.Irrespective of its more local causes, Kaprun was an accident waiting to happen, the inevitable consequence of the demands we are placing on the Alps. It is time we heeded the warnings of the likes of Ruskin and Pilkington.

It was the latter who told the Alpine Club almost a century ago that if the successful conquest of the mountain peaks brought fame for individual climbers, then it also entailed responsibility. The environmental summit under way in The Hague would not be a bad place to start taking those responsibilities seriously. Even if we are starting a hundred years too late. * Jim Ring is the author of ‘How the English made the Alps’, published by John Murray (£19.99).. Regional tourism authorities in Austria called off their pre-season advertising campaigns last week out of respect for the 155 people who perished in the country’s worst disaster. Regional tourism authorities in Austria called off their pre-season advertising campaigns last week out of respect for the 155 people who perished in the country’s worst disaster.
In the village of Kaprun, gateway to the magnificent Kitzsteinhorn mountain, the ski lifts will remain idle for at least another week.The ski-train tunnel which was the scene of the horrific inferno in which the victims perished will probably stay closed for ever.But long before the villagers have buried their dead – attaching names to the ashes could take a month – business will have to resume. Skiers will be shown another way up the Kitzsteinhorn, restaurants and bars in the valley will fill with the boisterous sound of aprÿs-ski merriment.

What else can Kaprun do?The snow industry is the monoculture of the Alps. Almost every one of Kaprun’s 3,000 inhabitants lives off tourism. Thanks to the glacier 6,000ft above their roofs, skiers provide the locals’ bread and butter all year round. No one lives in an ordinary house; the sons and daughters of goatherds inhabit chalets of a dozen rooms or more, constantly tending to the needs of their paying guests. At peak season, when the village is swamped with 6,000 visitors, there is not a room to spare.The peak season was due to begin on 30 November, when the grand new alpine centre near the terminus of the funicular was to open. The building is covered in soot, the carriages of the two “Alpine métro” trains are a heap of molten aluminium. “We must consider whether we should continue to rely on the métro, or create a new route,” said Norbert Karslböck, Kaprun’s mayor.The problem is that even if the operating company fitted new safety measures, visitors are unlikely ever to want to pass through a tunnel where so many choked and burned to death.

The prospect of such a journey might even deter many who otherwise would not object to a spell in the now infamous resort. Building new gondola lifts may be the only solution, but it will not save the current season. Kaprun is facing ruin.Also badly affected are resorts that operated a similar funicular system. Until last weekend, they were reputed to be the safest means of transport in the world.