Austria’s most famous gorge has been bled dry by 2026's weather

Published on

15/08/2026 - 7:02 GMT+2

A day out at Austria's most famous gorge, the Bärenschützklamm, usually means climbing over thundering waterfalls and fast-flowing cold creeks. But this year I found the gorge in a very different state. The water, which attracts 40,000 tourists a year, is gone. The waterfalls have dried up and the creeks are so dry that you can walk along their beds like any other trail.

Gerhard Jantscher, chairman of Austrian Alpine Club Österreichischer Alpenverein, Sektion Mixnitz, tells Euronews Earth that the Alps are suffering in the face of global warming, summer heatwaves, drought and the lack of snow and rain. The landscape - formed over hundreds of years - is changing fast.

"By the end of July, the flow of water through the Bärenschützklamm gorge had ceased due to a lack of precipitation. The water source is the Mixnitz Stream, which originates on the Sommeralm and flows via the Teichalm to the Bärenschützklamm. The region relies heavily on natural precipitation so that the Sommeralm and Teichalm areas can absorb the rainfall and gradually feed it into the Mixnitz Stream."