A regular day in Karthaus

The village community building (Dorfsgemeinschaft Haus) comfortably accommodated all the summer school activities. On a regular day, lectures started at 8.30AM and lasted until lunch time (13.00). The afternoon was spent making exercises and doing a computer project, while digesting a three courses lunch. Twelve groups of three students were assigned a computer project supervised by one of the lecturers. By performing numerical experiments and playing around with different numbers, students got a taste of glaciology-related process. The results of the projects were presented on the last day of the summer school.

The complete programme is available as a PDF.

In their spare-time, the participants could enjoy the different outdoor pursuits that the surroundings of Karthaus offer. Many went for a hike to the Kreuzspitze (2484m), a mountain top south of the village. Just below the summit, an enormous cross has been erected, visible from the village. The walk could be done in anything between 56'44" (2005 record of Thomas Reerink) and three hours. Some students also took benefit of table tennis or visited the hotel sauna between the end of the official program and the well deserved five courses dinner.

On Sunday September the 14th, all the students and staff went on an excursion into the Ötztaler Alps to walk over the Hochjochferner glacier, discover the IMAU weather station, and climb the Hintereisferner mountain. Due to foggy conditions, most students went back early to Karthaus while the bravest ascended the mountain to the summit!