Zermatt's Glaciers and Climate Change
Gornergrat
Gornergrat
Railway Station
Gornergrat is the best station for views of glaciers, retreat features, and the Matterhorn. The Gornergrat railway starts in Zermatt near the main train station and is a comfortable and beautiful 30 minute ride up to the edge of the Gorner valley at an elevation of over 10,285 feet. The photographs to the left show the train climbing to the station and the station itself. The station area shown in these photographs has a hotel, restaurants, shops, outdoor terraces, observation areas, and a short trail. This 360 Loop Gornergrat Trail, as the name implies, gives extraordinary views, especially of the Gorner Glacier, its meltwater channels, and disconnected tributary glaciers. The lateral moraines and separated tributary show how much the glaciers have retreated in 150 years. Historical photographs show how the ice filled the tributary and main valleys.
The photograph to the right shows the Lower Theodul Glacier in the lower left and the Upper Theodul Glacier with its ski lifts in the upper right.
2012
The upper part of the Gorner Glacier seen in the photograph to the left joins with the Grenz Glacier on the right to form the Gorner Glacier in the valley. Above the small blue green lake is a retreat surface and to the right of the lake and above the Grenz Glacier is the lateral moraine ridge showing how much thickness the Grenz Glacier has lost. The Monte Rosa Trail can be seen in the lower part of the photograph above the Gorner Glacier.
The two photographs to the left compare the glacier in 2012 to 2018 and show how much retreat has occurred in 6 years with the upper part of the Gorner Glacier essentially disconnecting from the valley part of the glacier during this time period.
2018
The upper part of the Gorner Glacier to the left, and the Monte Rosa Hut Trail can be seen far below in the lower right corner of the photograph. The arrow points out the lower edge of the white snow at a high elevation that remains from the winter of 2017-18. Below this is the glacier's ice surface without that winter's snow that melted by September 2018. Melting of this snow contributes to the glacier's retreat by eliminating annual snow accumulation over most of the glacier.
To the right is the Grenz Glacier, the only remaining tributary to the Gorner Glacier in the valley. In the center left part of the photograph is a small lake below a cirque glacier with a large polished rock retreat surface below the ice that shows how much it has retreated in over 100 years compared to historical photographs shown in the referenced websites.
The Gornergrat station is outlined to the left on the ridge over the Gorner Glacier. Above the ice is a tan stripe of rock in the lower part of the photograph that is an eroded lateral moraine. This shows how much width and thickness of the glacier has been lost.
Monte Rosa Hut Trail from the Rotenboden Station to the Gorner Glacier
The first photograph above is the beginning of the Monte Rosa Hut Trail with the Grenz Glacier to the right of the hikers. Its lateral moraine in the center of the photograph is now high above the ice surface; this shows how much the ice has melted.
Above is the trail heading to the upper part of the Gorner Glacier. Its retreat surface of polished rock and its lateral moraine ridge is shown below the ice.
The Monte Rosa Hut Trail traverses the steep cliff face below the Gornergrat station and above the Gorner Glacier valley. It offers views similar to Gornergrat but the views are much closer to the glaciers and more dramatic. The safe part of the trail ends at the Gorner Glacier below. The trail view to the left shows the Matterhorn rising out of the morning fog.
The terminus of the Gorner Glacier--see the melting edge of the ice.
Close to the end of the trail near the glacier, the trail crosses a retreat surface including polished rock, grooves, and striations carved by rocks carried in the moving ice as shown to the left.
While the ice shown here is beautiful, hiking on the glacier is not safe unless you have a guide and proper equipment. The crevasses shown to the right are very hazardous.
