CLEWS Excursion to the Ötztal Alps

7th – 14th September 2024

As now the 3rd generation of CLEWS students, we finally had our mandatory excursion to the Ötztal Alps in Austria to look at evidences of current climate and earth system changes in the field. Although the weather forecast was quite shaky, we ended up spending some nice days outside, looking at the geology of the Alps, glaciers, peat, evidence of geomorphological processes and permafrost, as well as the alpine flora and fauna. In addition to the (undoubtedly eye-opening) presentations by students and professors, we had the opportunity to talk to local experts, which was very insightful and gave us much to think about tourism and the region’s dependence on it.

Besides this, we had a lot of fun during the hikes including climbing a via ferrata. Our cozy hut was the perfect place for cooking, dancing, and playing a lot of games when it was not so cozy outside. However, on the last day, the weather even allowed us to have our first snowball fight of the season, which was a great end to an exciting week.

Text written by Sophia Künzig, 2024