 Poster: A snowHead
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The glacier which sits atop Germany's highest mountain, the Zugspitze, faces extinction within 20 years - according to the Bavarian minister for the environment, Werner Schnappauf.
"150 years ago, the five Bavarian glaciers covered a total of 329 hectares. Today they have shrunk to 98" he said, on a special visit to the mountain.
This report from MySnowSports.com
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brian
brian
Guest
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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My memories of the Zugspitze glacier were testing out a pair of Marker ski bindings up there for the ski magazine I was working on. The Marker factory is just a few miles away, and was spectacularly rebuilt by new American owners a while back (though they subsequently lost control). The Zugspitze is a very unusual ski area since it's largely isolated from the rest of Garmisch's skiing. I was only up there for a few hours, and didn't quite grasp how you could ski down, either on the Austrian side of the mountain (as I think there's access from Austria) or German side.
There are two ways up from the German side, via a cog railway that goes underground or a (very steep, as I recall) cablecar.
The Zugspitze is well worth a visit (maybe if you're visiting Munich) though the skiing up top is decidedly gentle. The area where Garmisch's downhill is held is much more interesting, with some nice runs through the woods.
Does anyone know more about the links to and from the top of the Zugspitze?
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David Goldsmith, in fact the Zugspitze is one of my favourite ski areas! Not many people know this but it's is one of the best powder bowls in the Austrian alps. The snow is almost always in good condition, and if you get it on a good day you have a run of about 4Km in powder from the top of the area to the bottom of the bowl! Not bad, considering that the during the week the only people that go there are the locals from Garmisch and Ehrwald on the Austrian side. You should only go off piste there if they have more than about 3m of snow or you will destroy your skis! The skiing up top is not as gentle as you think!
You can't ski down to the valley, at least not by any normal route. I'm told that there is a way down on the Austrian side, but it requires abseilling part of the way.
You can either go up from the German side at Eibsee, whereby I would not recommend taking the railway, or from Ehrwald on the Austrian side, which I prefer.
The glacier hardly deserves the name any more. I have not been up there in summer for a long time, but it was hardly more than a patch of ice ten years ago!
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| Mike Lawrie wrote: |
You can't ski down to the valley, at least not by any normal route. I'm told that there is a way down on the Austrian side, but it requires abseilling part of the way.
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That's known as the Lost World if memory serves?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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ise, I've never heard it called that, but you may be right.
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Mike Lawrie, I know some guys from Seefeld who've boarded into that area, I also reckon Pouderhausen did a bit on it a few years back. I'll try and dig it out.
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FAQ
