The glacier had an area of 4.52 km² in 1998. The slope is relatively low, averaging 19.8°. Only just above the transition area from the nutrient area to the till area as well as in the marginal area of the Althauskees (the northern part of the Umbalkees) are smaller steep steps found. The greatest ice thickness was measured at 120 m at 2.550 m above sea level below the Gubach peaks. The tongue was between 40 and 100 m thick; in most of the firn area, the ice thickness is rather low.
Like most glaciers in the Alps, Umbalkees has been affected by glacial melt since the mid-19th century. At the beginning of the 1870s, Umbalkees still reached down to a sea level of around 2.300 m. In the years 1989/90 to 2010/11 alone, the glacier retreated by a further 543 m. The Umbalkees is thus the East Tyrolean glacier that has retreated the most. This is due in particular to its orientation to the south or southwest, which means that the glacier is strongly illuminated by the sun throughout the day..

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