Rifflsee showcases Pitztal’s high-alpine landscape and thriving ibex colony

The Rifflsee, a mountain lake above St Leonhard in the Pitztal valley, lies amid rugged peaks and the Eastern Alps’ largest ibex colony, ORF reports. More than 1,200 ibex live in the nearby Kaunergrat region.

Fed by meltwater from surrounding peaks, the lake is the largest in the Ötztal Alps. The Seekogel and Rostizkogel, each rising above 3,300 metres, stand out in the mountain panorama. At its deepest point, the lake reaches 24 metres.

In summer, visitors can take a raft ride on the lake. ORF describes it as the highest raft ride in Europe. The lake was recorded around 1500 in Emperor Maximilian I’s fishing book under the name “Wildseele hinden im Putzental”. Its name is credited to Tyrolean cartographer Peter Anich.

The ibex population’s revival began in the Pitztal in the 1950s, when six animals were brought in for a reintroduction programme. They escaped from their enclosure and later bred in the wild. The Pitztal is now home to the largest ibex colony in the Eastern Alps.

Farmers from the municipality of Arzl in the Pitztal, organised in the Taschachalpe agricultural association, maintain the high-alpine landscape through grazing, herding and ongoing pasture care. Alpine plants around the lake include gentian, edelweiss, arnica, silverwort and cotton grass. The flowering of the alpine roses from late June to mid-July adds colour to the landscape.

The lake and its surroundings are home to fish, frogs and livestock as well as ibex. The landscape lies above 2,200 metres and is exposed to sharp changes in weather.