Vernagtferner, Glacier in Ötztal Alps, Austria

Vernagtferner is a large glacier situated on the south-facing slopes of Weißkamm in the Ötztal Alps. The ice mass spans multiple valley sections and feeds streams that shape the surrounding landscape.

The glacier has been recorded and measured for over 400 years, with observations beginning in 1601 that track its movements. This continuous research record helps scientists understand long-term climate and environmental changes in the Alps.

The glacier's outburst floods are recorded in the Längenfeld parish chronicle, and the 1601 drawing of the Rofener Eissee is the oldest known depiction of an Alpine glacier. After the 1680 flood, crop failures and hunger led to a witch hunt in the Ötztal. Joseph Walcher's 1773 'Nachrichten von den Eisbergen im Tyrol' was the first treatise on an Ötztal glacier.

The glacier is best reached from Sölden via marked hiking trails and mountain paths. Access is possible, but the route requires good weather conditions and proper equipment suited to alpine terrain.

The Vernagtferner is classed as a firn-basin glacier (compound basin), not a valley glacier like its neighbours Hintereisferner and Kesselwandferner. Its wide firn hollows, south-tilted middle flats and short broad tongue give it this shape. Maps still mark a Kleiner Vernagtferner below the Hinterer Brochkogel, but that ice is gone.