ABSTRACT
The largest group of glaciers in the eastern Alps lies at the head of Ötztal, in the Austrian Tyrol, where mountains on the frontier with Italy rise to over 3600 m (Figure 5.1). The main névéfields extend from the Weisskugel, northeast towards the Mittelbergferner, and east towards the Hochwild. Many of the glaciers with which we are concerned flow southeast into the Rofen section of Ventertal, and most of the rest northwards into the Rofen and Spiegler sections of Ventertal, or into the head of Gurglertal (Figure 5.2). Both Ventertal and Gurglertal are steeply sloping with small, cultivated basins separated by deep gorges.
