Usually at the height of summer, tourists flock to the Alps and look for well-trodden paths to some of their peaks. But with warmer temperatures – which scientists say is due to climate change – accelerating the melting of glaciers and the thawing of permafrost, routes that are usually safe this time of year now face dangers such as falling rocks released from the ice. “Right now in the Alps, there are warnings for about a dozen peaks, including iconic ones like the Matterhorn and Mont Blanc,” said Pierre Mathey, head of the Swiss mountain guide association. He said this was happening much earlier in the season than normal. “Usually we see such closures in August, but now they have started in late June and are continuing into July.” Representatives of Alpine guides who usually lead thousands of hikers to Europe’s highest peak announced last week that they would suspend ascents on the most classic routes up Mont Blanc, which crosses France, Italy and Switzerland. The Alpine Italiane Guide said on its Facebook page that “particularly delicate conditions” caused by the high temperatures made it necessary to postpone the climbs. Mountain guides also stopped – reportedly for the first time in a century – offering tours of the classic route to the summit of Jungfrau in Switzerland. And they have advised against tours along the routes on the Italian and Swiss sides of the pyramid-shaped Matterhorn. Ezio Marlier, president of the Valle D’Aosta guide association, said being away from the most sought-after routes by tourists was a blow after the Covid slowdown. “It’s not easy … after two almost empty seasons to decide to stop work,” he said. He pointed out that the Italian Alps region had closed only two and that there are many other breathtaking and safe routes. But he lamented that many people canceled their trip when they heard their preferred route was off limits. “There’s a lot of other things to do, but usually when people want Mont Blanc, they want Mont Blanc,” Marlier said. Climbing some of the thousands of glaciers found in Europe’s largest mountain range is also proving more difficult. “The glaciers are in a state they are usually in at the end of summer or even later,” said Andreas Linsbauer, a glaciologist at the University of Zurich. “It is certain that we will break the record for negative melts.” He said a combination of factors contributed to a “really extreme” summer, starting with exceptionally little snowfall last winter, meaning there was less to protect the glaciers. Sand was blown from the Sahara earlier in the year, darkening the snow, which makes it melt faster. And heatwaves hit Europe in May, June and July, raising temperatures even at high altitudes. Rapid melting can make glaciers more dangerous, as shown by the sudden collapse of Italy’s previously seemingly harmless Marmolada Glacier this month, in which 11 people were killed as ice and rocks hurled down the mountain. While scientists have yet to come to clear conclusions about what caused the disaster, one theory is that meltwater may have reached where the glacier had frozen to the rock, loosening its grip. Mylene Jacquemart, a glacier and mountain hazard researcher at Switzerland’s ETH Zurich, said there were many unknowns about the disaster. “But the general theme is certainly that more meltwater … makes things more complicated and potentially more dangerous.” Mathey also expressed concern that the filtering of meltwater under a glacier posed an “additional and unseen threat.” However, despite the challenges, he expressed confidence that the guides would find solutions, looking for alternative routes to continue showcasing the majesty of the Alps. “Durability is really in the DNA of mountain riders,” as is adaptability, he said. “People should adapt to nature and mountains and not the other way around.”
