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
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A cirque glacier is formed in a cirque, a bowl-shaped depression on the side of or near mountains. Snow and ice accumulation in corries often occurs as the result of avalanching from higher surrounding slopes.
If ...
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
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The Schneeferner in the Bavarian Alps is Germany's highest and largest glacier. 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
A randkluft (from the German for ''marginal cleft/crevasse'') or rimaye (from the same French ) is the headwall gap between a glacier or snowfield and the adjacent rock face at the back of the cirqueWhittow, John (1984). ''Dictionary of Physi ...
of the glacier is a key point on the way to the ''
Klettersteig
A via ferrata (Italian for "iron path", plural ''vie ferrate'' or in English ''via ferratas'') is a protected climbing route found in the Alps and certain other Alpine locations. The protection includes steel fixtures such as cables and railing ...