Pasterze Glacier

The Pasterze is Austria’s longest glacier, stretching 8.4 kilometres beneath the Grossglockner in the High Tauern range. It begins at the Johannisberg peak at 3,453 metres and ends at 2,100 metres above sea level. The glacier feeds the Möll river and the Margaritze reservoir, which powers the Kaprun hydropower plant. Its name may come from the Slovene word for pasture, as traces of vegetation and early grazing have been found nearby. The area was bought by the German and Austrian Alpine Club in 1918 and now lies within the High Tauern National Park. The glacier is a major tourist site, reached by the Grossglockner High Alpine Road and a funicular that descends to its edge. Since 1963, the glacier’s margin has retreated about 300 metres from the lower station. Recent measurements show it is losing two metres of ice thickness each year since 2022, with the tongue shrinking five metres annually and up to ten metres in lower sections. Visitors find a dramatic landscape of ice and rock framed by the Grossglockner’s slopes. The funicular brings them close to the glacier’s edge, where the contrast between ice and alpine meadows is striking. The High Alpine Road offers sweeping views of the glacier and surrounding peaks. The area’s history as a pastureland adds another layer of interest to the visit.