Heaven and hell

The cave was discovered in 1879 and is 42 kilometres long. This makes it the longest ice cave in the world. It’s at the elevation of 1600 meters above sea level in the mountain range of Tennengebirge above the valley of Saltach. It’s easy to reach its entrance by a cable cart, and then you have to walk along the well-made paths for quite some time.

Although the cave is extremely long, only 800 meters are open for tourists. The cave is near the town of Werfen, with its famous castle, and is just about 40 kilometres south of Salzburg. Inside a limestone mountain of Tennegebirge cavers were formed in the Alps over many years, in a place that got covered by ice. The origin of the underground tunnels are connected to tectonic crevices and melting of the stone. Naturally, such a process took several millions of years. But to get the nickname “Big ice world” the ice structures must remain in it whole year long. The conditions, which allow this to happen are that the cave system has many empty spaces and one entrance at a relatively high elevation, and another at a relatively low elevation. Also needed is the steady 80C of rock temperature, which causes a strong air stream all year around. The cave thus features a constant temperature at around freezing point, which results in the water penetrating into it to freeze and form ice sculptures. Since there is usually enough snow and rain fall all the conditions are met, to naturally form wondrous forms. The ice inside the cave is very old and is estimated to have formed about 1000 years ago, which still, is very recent considering the age of the cave, estimated at between 50 and 100 million of years.

Along the motorway from Beljak (Villach) – Salzburg there is the town of Werfen, above which there are tall peaks. There is a 6 kilometre long mountain road leading up those peaks where the climb sometimes reaches the massive 20%. The road ends at about 1000 meters elevation and you continue on foot, through a shorter tunnel and cross the smaller viaduct. Now you reach the bottom station of the cable cart, which is some 20 minutes’ walk from the parking space. You get up the mountain to the elevation of 1586 from where you need to walk additional 20 minutes to reach the cave entrance at the elevation of 1641 metres. Altogether you’ll walk about three quarters of an hour, yet it is a relaxing walk since the paths are really nice and offer great view into the valley. But the cave entrance immediately takes you to another place, into a narrow world of tightness of caverns and you need to negotiate 700 steps. But the beautiful ice stalactites make it worth wild! The first thing that will surprise you upon entering the cave is the strong current of cold wind, but soon you’ll reach the Posselt’s chamber with a beautiful stalagmite in the middle. There are also several man made features along the way, the best known being the black cross, which represents the deepest point to which the initial explorer Anton Posselt explored the cave and the cavern which today carries his name (as does the stalagmite in its middle). The trail leads us pass a 20 meter high and a 40 meter long ditch of ice, which represents the tallest ice surface in the cave. With a bit of imagination you can see many interesting sculptures of various shapes and sizes, which have been formed inside the cave during the many years, and they keep changing. One of the largest spaces inside the cave, which is also a part of the tour, is the 60 meter long and 30 meter wide and a 35 meter tall cavern. You even cross the frozen lake along the way and to reach the exit you need to pass through an artificially made tunnel through ice. Although this tunnel is man-made it is still very interesting. Such a tour takes about 75 minutes and the cave is open from May 1st until October 26th. Due to difficult access the cave is closed during winter.

 

The biggest ice cave in the world, with its unique ice sculptures high in the mountains attracts visitors from all over the globe. Already the location of the cave is a reason for a visit, not to mention the beauty hidden inside.