“The village wreathed in a glacier” - Obergurgl can look back on an eventful history. The first settlement on the site of the current village dates back to 7500 B.C. The village was first mentioned in writing in 1250. Living in the isolation of the high-altitude Alpine world, for hundreds of years life for its residents was an everyday struggle to survive. But even in the early days of Alpine tourism in the early 20th century, the Gurglers evinced their talent as mountain guides. With the construction of the first lifts in the 1950s, winter tourism found its way to the furthest reaches of the Ötztal valley. In May, 1931, Obergurgl became famous almost overnight: the news of balloon pioneer Auguste Piccard’s emergency landing on the Gurgler Ferner electrified the press around the world. Today, Obergurgl is a modern village which has achieved a successful symbiosis between humans and nature. The Obergurgl Experience can be found not only on the ski slopes, hiking trails and climbing routes - a wide range of pastimes for the active, the curious, the gourmet-lover and the leisure seeker are just waiting to be discovered!