Windlöcher

The Windlöcher are a cave system in the Untersberg massif of the Berchtesgaden Alps. Their entrances lie on the steep northern slopes above the village of Großgmain in Salzburg. The name comes from the strong draughts that blow in and out of the cave mouths. Researchers have long studied these ice-filled caverns. Eberhard Fugger described them in 1888 as a ‘complex of ice holes’ with cascading ice sheets and vertical shafts. Later explorers added the Supernova shaft and the Klingertalschacht, pushing the explored length to over eleven kilometres. The caves still hold unexplored sections and may link to the Riesending system, which would create a continuous passage of at least seventy kilometres. Visitors reach the entrances along alpine paths near the Klingeralm. Inside, a main passage runs at about thirteen hundred metres above sea level, while the Klingertalschacht drops deeper with brust-deep water pools. The draughts at the cave mouths show how the whole system breathes, drawing cool air up in summer and pushing warmer air out.