Wurtenkees glacier could be reduced to ice remnants within a decade

The Wurtenkees glacier at the Mölltal glacier is losing ice rapidly and could be reduced to remnants within 10 years, ORF Kärnten reports. Temperatures reached 2C above zero at elevations above 3,000 metres on October 6, well above average, and melting has continued into autumn.

Glaciologists Bernhard Hynek and Anton Neureiter carried out the glacier’s end-of-season measurements using crampons and a drone. Neureiter said this year was among the most negative on record since monitoring began in 1983, possibly matching 2022 as the worst year measured.

Between 2020 and 2025, Wurtenkees lost 42 per cent of its area. The glacier has broken into three parts. Measurements show it has been losing about 15 metres in length and typically two metres in thickness each year. In the past decade, thinning has accelerated to nearly three metres a year, with an average of about 12 metres of ice remaining.

Water flowing through the glacier also contributes to melting. Hynek said streams warm as they pass through and then flow into the glacier’s lower section, melting it from below. A gauge reading on Tuesday showed the glacier had lost more than 1.5 metres of ice since August 20.

Each of the three remaining sections still just meets the usual definition of a glacier, which requires an ice area of 0.1 square kilometres and a thickness of about 30 metres, the researchers said. That is expected to change within a few years.

The retreat is also changing the terrain used for skiing. Steep drops have replaced parts of what used to be a gentle slope. If the ski area is to continue operating after the glacier disappears, blasting may be needed to create a skiable piste, Hynek said. The Mölltal Glacier lifts company said this was not an issue this year and hoped to open the season on October 23, with 60 centimetres of snow and suitable temperatures.