Venue
The Karthaus summer school was accomodated in the luxurious hotel Zur Goldenen Rose, run by Paul Grüner.
Entertainment
Traditionally, several musical events are organised during the summer school. Unfortunately there were no tango lessons this year, but there was a lot of piano music.
Social media
The summer school students started a Facebook group.
A regular day at Karthaus
Venue
All the school's official activities were accomodated at the community building of the village.
Village community building (Haus der Dorfgemeinschaft).
Day program
Each day lectures started at 8:30 and lasted until lunch time (12:30). The lunch sometimes took place on the terrace but mostly inside the hotel, where we could enjoy a lunch, including a salad bar, a warm meal and a dessert. The formal program then resumed with exercise classes and computer project work. Twelve groups of three students each were assigned computer projects supervised by one of the lecturers. By performing numerical experiments and playing around with different numbers, students got a taste of glaciology-related processes. The results of the projects were presented on the last day of the summer school.
The complete programme is available in PDF.
Spare time
In their spare time, the participants could enjoy the beautiful village of Karthaus and its surroundings. The nearby Kreuzspitze (2575 m) just south of the village was a popular hiking and running destination. Another popular place to visit was lake Vernago. This beautiful lake is located 1689 m above sea level, and is a reservoir used to generate electricity. Due to its close proximity to Karthaus, it is a suitable location for a walk.
View from the path to the Kreuzspitze.
The village also has a rich history, which can be seen in the village centre. The most prominent characteristic of the village, is the of old monastery (the Karthaus) of Carthusians that used to live here for hundreds of years.
Fountain in the village centre.
The annual event Almabtrieb took place while we were there. During this day, the cows are brought down by the farmers from the mountain pastures. The cows are decorated and the cow that gave the most milk is celebrated even more.
The decorated cows during the Almabtrieb.
Typical street in Karthaus.
Excursion
On the second last day, the group went on excursion to the Hochjochferner glacier. More details can be found on the excursion page.
View on the snowy mountains and glacier.