Kaprun glacier operator reshapes exposed rock for ski pistes

Kaprun’s glacier lift operator is using three excavators to remove rock, glacial debris and soil on the Kitzsteinhorn mountain, ORF reports. The work is intended to secure ski pistes as the Schmiedinger Kees glacier retreats.

Grooved and heavily fractured rock has emerged where the glacier once covered the high-altitude landscape above Kaprun in Salzburg’s Pinzgau region. Workers are filling the depressions to create more even surfaces for the pistes.

Thomas Maierhofer, chief executive of the Kaprun glacier lifts, described the project as a technical adaptation rather than an expansion. He said an extensive approval process for the rock work took place in 2023. No environmental impact assessment was required, and the necessary permits have been granted.

The rock is also being crushed and used to fill glacial grooves. The operator says this will help secure the pistes even if climate change causes the glacier to retreat completely.

Greens criticise the work

The Greens in the Salzburg state parliament have criticised the intervention. Party leader Martina Berthold said new high-altitude landscapes were emerging as the ice retreated and should be protected.

“You cannot send an excavator after every melting glacier,” Berthold said. She added that areas should not be made suitable for ski pistes immediately after the glacier retreats.

Glaciologist Andrea Fischer said the glacier melt had reached a new level this year, with the ice melting around the clock up to the summits. ORF reported that the current melt followed record years in 2003 and 2022.