The Glacier Hotel Grawand calls the Val Senales Glacier its home. Every morning, we enjoy the sight of the eternal ice right on our doorstep, which attracts curious guests who come for a glacier holiday all year round. But if you just look at them, you won't realise how glaciers help the world or what makes them so special. Today, we want to get to the bottom of this.

Huge freshwater reservoir
Around 10% of the earth's land surface is currently covered by glaciers. During the last ice age, this quota was at 32%. Nevertheless, the remaining glaciers still store 70% of the earth's freshwater reserves. While snow and ice accumulate in winter, water melts in the usually drier summer months and flows downhill. Saving the glaciers therefore also means ensuring a year-round water supply for humans, animals, and agriculture. As the meltwater from the glaciers is often also used to generate energy, as we do on the Val Senales Glacier, it also ensures an environmentally friendly energy supply for the population in the area.

Influences climate and living conditions
Why are glaciers important to the climate? The more the glaciers continue to melt, the higher the sea level rises. This is not only a problem for many island states and coastal regions of the world, but also for areas further inland that lie below sea level and whose groundwater is at risk. Furthermore, increased melting of the glaciers leads to a greater risk of flooding in mountain regions such as the Val Senales Valley. The permafrost of the glaciers stabilises the rock and counteracts rockfalls. And last but not least, the glacier also protects itself, as its white surface reflects heat, while the dark surface of the rocks heats up more quickly and thus leads to further melting.
 

Valuable research archive
Why are melting glaciers bad? It’s also because they provide unique insights into times long past. With the help of ice cores (cylindrical ice rods drilled out from the glacier), researchers can analyse deeper layers of ice and thus gain insights into the time of their formation. Enclosed elements such as wood or microorganisms reveal interesting facts about the climate and living conditions of past millennia.

A unique adventure
The question of why the glaciers are so beautiful to us would not be fully answered if the recreational factor were not also mentioned. The emotions that the glacier gives us every day cannot be described in words and must be experienced first-hand! Whether as a hiker, climber, or skier, relaxing on our sun terrace or on an ambitious guided tour to the site where Ötzi the Iceman was found, searching for rare plants or observing the animal inhabitants of the eternal ice - the glacier inspires young and old, sports enthusiasts and fans of relaxation. For this reason, too, it is important to us to help to stop the glaciers from melting.


A glacier holiday in Val Senales in South Tyrol is the perfect opportunity to experience this unique habitat up close. Our glacier hotel at over 3,000 metres is located in an idyllic position on the Val Senales Glacier and yet is easy to reach with the glacier cable car. And when you're back home after your adventure holiday in the mountains, you'll be all the more keen to save the glaciers!