The Höllentalferner is a

glacier A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...

in the western

Wetterstein Mountains The Wetterstein mountains (), colloquially called Wetterstein, is a mountain group in the Northern Limestone Alps within the Eastern Alps, crossing the Austria–Germany border. It is a comparatively compact range located between Garmi ...

. It is a cirque glacier that covers the upper part of the Höllental valley and its location in a rocky bowl between the Riffelwandspitzen and Germany's highest mountain, the

Zugspitze The Zugspitze ( , ; ), at above Normalhöhennull, sea level, is the highest peak of the Wetterstein Mountains and the highest mountain in Germany. It lies south of the town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria, and the Austria–Germany border ...

, means that it is well-protected from direct sunshine.

Geography

With an area of (as of 2006)''Höllentalferner - Topographie''
at www.lrz.de. Accessed on 24 December 2010 it is almost as big as the nearby Northern Schneeferner, the largest glacier in Germany. It is about long and up to wide. It is the only German glacier with a proper glacial tongue. In spite of its relatively low elevation of just 2,570 m to 2,200 m, the glacier is not in acute danger because it is located in a deeply hollowed bowl and is fed by

avalanche An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a Grade (slope), slope, such as a hill or mountain. Avalanches can be triggered spontaneously, by factors such as increased precipitation or snowpack weakening, or by external means such as humans, othe ...

snow (as a ''Lawinenkesselgletscher'' or "avalanche bowl glacier") and is therefore less badly affected by

global warming Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes ...

. In order to climb the Zugspitze through the Höllental valley the Höllentalferner has to be negotiated. Depending on the season the randkluft of the glacier is a key point on the way to the '' Klettersteig''.

References

External links

Archive of Bavarian Glaciers
Glaciers of Bavaria Glaciers of the Alps GHollentalferner Wetterstein {{Germany-glacier-stub