Eisgrotte Stubaier Gletscher

Useful Information

Location:	On the Stubai glacier, take the cable car to the glacier. From Bergstation Eisgrat on trail by foot, 10 minutes. From Innsbruck A13 Brennerautobahn to exit Schonberg, to the Talstation Stbaier Gletscher (signposted) at the end of the road.
Open:	21-DEC to 03-MAY daily 11:30-15:30. 18-MAY to 14-JUN daily 9-15:30. 04-JUL to 06-SEP daily 9-15:30. [2020]
Fee:	Adults EUR 6.50, Children (10-18) EUR 3, Children (0-9) free. Fee for cable car not included. [2020]
Classification:	glacier grotto
Light:	natural/electric
Dimension:	L=80 m, A=3,000 m asl.
Guided tours:	n/a
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	not wheelchair accessible
Bibliography:
Address:	Stubaier Gletscher, Mutterberg 2, 6167 Neustift, Tel: +43-5226-8141, Fax: +43-5226-8141-150. E-mail: Info (snow and weather): Tel: +43-5226-8141-400.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

Description

The Eisgrotte Stubai is an artificial tunnel dug into the ice of the Stubai glacier. The 200 m long tunnel has numerous explanatory signs which explain the geology and geography of the glacier. The topics are moraines, glacier grinding, glacier milk, the individual ice layers, alternating deposits and inclusions, and glacier protection. While most glacier grottos emphasize on artworks or cartoon characters as ice sculptures, this more scientific approach is quite refreshing. And even better: there are no explanation texts in the grotto, only numbers. The explanatory texts are online for download in various languages, or you can buy a booklet at the ticket office. The link for the english explanations is below in the linklist.

The grotto is rather new. It was created after survey works of Prof. Dr.-Ing. Wolf-Ulrich Böttinger from the Hochschule für Technik in Stuttgart. The whole project was supervised by Dr. Andrea Fischer, a glaciologist from Innsbruck.

The Stubai glacier is not a single glacier, its the name of the ski area. There are actually five of 117 glaciers in the Stubai mountain range which are developed for skiing.