Bad omens

“Glacier lacks at least two meters of snow”

The eternal ice on the Dachstein will be gone in 15 to 25 years. It is receding at an average rate of ten centimetres per day.

(Bild: Markus Schuetz)

The eternal ice on the Dachstein is suffering enormously from this year's dry winter and if Peter doesn't deliver heavenly supplies quickly, the glacier year threatens to start with a significant minus. Because there is a lack of snow, the lifeblood of the glaciers. Which loses substance every day, even in the freezing cold.

"One meter of snow won't help the glacier" - Klaus Reingruber from the "Blue Sky" meteorology service in Attnang-Puchheim looks anxiously at the Dachstein glacier, which he is researching for the province of Upper Austria. Because the clock is ticking, even if the glacier year still lasts until May 1st before a balance sheet is drawn up. "But we still need at least two meters of snow so that we don't start the new year on a negative note," the glacier researcher asks Peter.

Record snowfall is long gone
This year's winter is simply too dry, with Upper Austria lacking between a third and 58 percent of the usual precipitation. "It doesn't help that there was record snowfall in September. This snow has long since disappeared and there wasn't much of it later," says Reingruber, who is familiar with the data and knows that there is currently a maximum of two and a half meters of snow on the Hallstatt glacier - and only where the wind has gathered it. In snowy winters, there have been up to eight meters. "And the glacier lives off the snow," explains the glaciologist.

The count is not made until 1 May, but we would need at least another two meters of snow so that the year doesn't start with a negative value for the glacier right away

Gletscherforscher Klaus Reingruber

Start without a reserve
And this year, the glacier is in danger of starving without a reserve unless there is a strong supply from the heavens - and that is not in the weather maps at the moment. The constant cold on the mountains only helps to a limited extent. "The technical term is sublimation. Snow and ice evaporate, even when it's cold. The drier the air, the faster this happens. Up to two centimetres disappear per day," explains Reingruber, who can look back on 19 years of research on the Hallstatt glacier this year.

Artificial snow saved the ski season
And had to experience how the ski lifts on the Dachstein glacier had to be dismantled two years ago because skiing was no longer possible due to a lack of snow. Researchers and meteorologists are convinced that the lifts would have come to a standstill in almost all ski resorts in Upper Austria this year if there had been no artificial snowmaking. At the moment, however, it looks as if the slopes in the higher ski resorts will remain open during the semester break, which starts next week in Upper Austria.