This stunning viewing platform was built on top of an Italian glacier

A brand new, breath-taking viewing platform has been built high on Grawand Mountain in the Ötztal Alps of South Tyrol, Italy, giving visitors incredible views of the stunning rugged landscape of the surrounding area.

Called Ötzi Peak 3251m, the platform has been named in honour of the mummified iceman who was discovered nearby at the Schnalstal / Val Senales Valley Glacier by hikers in 1991. The impressive structure is located right on a glacier, and nearby the Hotel Grawand sits at the top of the alpine intersection near the border of Austria, which at over 3000m above sea level makes it one of the last few hotels in Europe located at such an altitude. The viewing platform can be reached from there in just ten minutes, and guests can watch the sunrise and sunset over the peaks of the mountains.

“The summit is a stone's throw away at a distance of about 50m. The breath-taking landscape view of snow-covered mountain peaks makes time stand still. Hikers and skiers visit the peak to experience nature at its fullest: rugged, stony, with wind and weather – pure,” a representative of noa* network of architecture told Lonely Planet. The 80 sq meter viewing platform was completed recently and was developed based on a light structure made of corten steel, being built around the pre-existing landscape.

A geometric tunnel has been cut into the platform to direct viewers eyes towards where Ötzi was found, and it’s possible to walk through a tunnel and out to a platform with a glass guardrail on it. More information is available at the Hotel Grawand website.

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