Hikes to glaciers

No, definitely not without the right kit and experience. In summer, the snow melts and the bare ice (Blankeis) becomes extremely slippery. Furthermore, crevasses open up. Without crampons, a safety rope and mountaineering experience, setting foot on the glacier is life-threatening. For ordinary hikers, there are marked, secured paths along the edges that can be followed without coming into contact with the ice.

In Tirol, glaciers are usually situated at altitudes well above 2,500 to 3,000 metres. Even when it’s 30 °C down in the valley, temperatures on the Glacier Ski Resort can be just above freezing. What’s more, an icy wind often blows across the open ice fields. Layering (T-shirt, fleece, windproof and waterproof jacket) is essential.

Yes, this is often underestimated by hikers. In the height of summer, these are usually not classic snow avalanches, but ice avalanches. When glacier tongues overhang steep Rock Faces (so-called hanging glaciers), the ice loses its grip due to the summer heat and breaks away. Such ice breaks are unpredictable. Furthermore, fresh snow can fall in the high mountains following summer cold fronts – this fresh snow slides extremely easily on the smooth layer of ice.

The moraines (the huge walls of debris and scree left behind by the glacier as it retreated on either side) look like solid mounds of gravel. In summer, however, they are often unstable. Deep inside these ridges, there is often still frozen ‘permafrost’. If this ice melts in summer, the entire slope begins to slide. You should therefore stay on the marked paths and avoid steep scree slopes. 

Because the glacier flows and the ice is rigid.Although a glacier slides down the valley as a huge mass, the ice does not behave with the same degree of flexibility everywhere. This creates enormous stresses that cause the ice to fracture at the surface.