Iceman Ötzi Peak

High above Maso Corto (Kurzras) rises the icy giant of the Val Senales Glacier, a popular hiking destination in summer and an almost year-round ski area. With the exception of the hottest summer months, snowboarding and skiing is possible here from September to May. And anyone who has climbed the steep rock faces by cable car from Maso Corto and arrived at 3,212 m a.s.l. will be rewarded with an incomparable panoramic view.

From the Croda dei Cornacchie (Grawand) mountain station with its Glacier Hotel, the highest hotel in Europe, there is a safe ascent of 40 metres to the "Iceman Ötzi Peak" viewing platform, which was opened in summer 2020. The name was chosen deliberately because Ötzi was already on his way in this mountain world 5,300 years ago. The South Tyrolean steel construction offers a view on the snowfield of Mt. Similaun (3,606 m a.s.l.), where the world famous glacier mummy was found in 1991. And while in the valley the archeoParc Val Senales tells of the Iceman and the life of his time, here his immediate surroundings can be experienced.

Furthermore, the Hochjochferner, a glacier in the Ötztal Alps between the Val Senales Glacier and Venter Valley, and the watershed that forms the national border between Austria and Italy can also be seen from here. From here the water flows into the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. The transhumance path, part of the intangible cultural heritage of UNESCO, can also be seen. This is the path of the sheep to the summer pastures: Every year in mid-June shepherds move 3,000 - 4,000 sheep 44 km across the glacier to the Ötztal valley in North Tyrol.