The fascination of ice

The world of ice at the Hintertux glacier is a true miracle of nature, that enchants every visitor to this unique visual backdrop. Most people know that you can even ski and snowboard on the Hintertux glacier during the summer. Many people are probably aware of the fact that snow turns into ice after a certain period. But there are few who actually know what it looks like inside the ice giant:

A deep glacier
The Hintertux glacier is up to 120m deep in places. The Gefrorene Wand Kees and Großes Riepenkees area covers around 6.3km². From Gefrorene Wand (3250m) up to the Tuxer Fernerhaus (2660m), the glacier is 4.1km in length.

The Hintertux glacier consists of about 190 million cubic metres of ice – in turn corresponds 171 billion litres of water.

Glaciers are in a state of movement.
The glacial ice moves constantly (between 0 and 40m every year). 61 supporting struts of our facilities stand on glacial ice. Because of the movement of the glaciers, the locations of these facilities move and have therefore have to be constantly repositioned, sometimes up to three times in a year.

Glaciers have a past
The snow of yesterday turns into ice and moves within the glacier from the surface area down into the core below. It is there that we find the oldest ice – up to 1,000 years old on the Hintertux glacier.


Our hot tip: GUIDED GLACIER INFO TOUR from July through to September 2010
Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, an experienced glacier guide from the Hintertux Ski School will take you on an exciting and eventful discovery tour of the Hintertux glacier.

At a spectacular height of 3,250m, you will find out more about the surrounding mountain world and enjoy the breathtaking view. You will walk over thousand-year old glacial ice, past powerful turquoise-blue seracs and learn interesting facts about the origin and structure