Höllentalferner

Höllentalferner from Jubiläumsgrat (2005)

The Höllentalferner is a glacier in the west of Wettersteingebirge. As a cirque glacier it covers the upper part of the Höllentales and is well protected from sun exposure between the Riffelwand tips and the Zugspitze in a rock basin.

The Höllentalferner covered in 2010 an area of ​​about 22 hectares. This makes it to North Schneefernerhaus the second largest glacier in Germany. It is about one kilometer long and up to 700 meters wide. The ice volume was determined in 2010 to 2.4 million m³. The average ice thickness was 10.6 m with a maximum thickness of 51.8 m. The Höllentalferner is the only German glacier with a "real" glacier tongue. Despite its relatively low position of only 2570 m down to 2200 m, the glacier is not acutely endangered in its existence, since it is less affected by its location in a deep kettle and by feeding with avalanche snow ( avalanche boiler glacier) by global warming.

In the ascent of the Zugspitze by the Höllentalbahn the Höllentalferner must be overcome. Depending on the season represents the crevasse of the glacier during the transition to the climbing a key point dar.

Gallery

Upper end of the Höllentalbahn Ferners with Randkluft

Climber on the edge of the chasm Höllentalbahn Ferners

View from the Alpine peaks on the upper end of Hollental with the Höllentalferner (2007)