PEP Students on Tour to the Alps

As part of the course „Ice Mass Balance and Remote Sensing“ we spent a few days in a mountain hut close to the glacier Vernagtferner. On daily trips to the glacier, we learned how to determine ice thickness using Radar measurements, how to dig snow pits to measure density changes within the snow, operating drones and various other instruments. Furthermore, a short introduction was given to crevasse rescue and walking on a rope to do a tour to a ridge on top of the glacier. On the last day, we were guided on a large hiking tour across other parts of the glaciers where we could observe large crevasses, moulins, scary melt water channels we had to jump over and finally taking a bath in a glacier lake with only a few degrees Celsius. Overall, the atmosphere was very relaxed and fun. In the afternoons everyone was enjoying a cup of coffee or beer in the hut and playing games. When you are in the area this is also a good opportunity to summit the second highest mountain in Austria, the Wildspitze. Altitude sickness was an issue, though.