Vanishing Glaciers of the Matterhorn

Vanishing Glaciers of the Matterhorn


Michal Pyka


We are living in a weird world. In the world whose climate is rapidly changing in reaction to our actions. It does not make any sense to desperately deny the facts as some scientific deniers or misinformed politicians are trying to do.


Matterhorn's Western glaciers

Immediately after I get out of the train in Zermatt, I take a look above - towards the mountains – at Klein Matterhorn and Breithorn. I clearly see a distressing picture of greyish shade of the remaining snow. Once upon a time, the Alpine glaciers shined like diamonds in the crown of Alpine peaks, glittering in the sunlight along the skyline of the Alps and they were mightily beautiful. So, unfortunately, their present appearance – just the few open glacier fields – does not blow the mind with its beauty like it did before. The snow is grey and one can see from a distance that it is wet, heavy and matt. Such greyish snow is characterized by lower albedo, and therefore it absorbs much more heat than fresh snow. This, in turn, causes even faster melting. In fact, the general tendency of the vanishing of ice and snow cover becomes indubitable and the process of glaciers depletion is running fast, however unequally across the area. .


Zermatt and surrounding peaks, September 2000



Zermatt and surrounding peaks, September 2016

We are constantly heating the planet and are intentionally running towards even bigger health, economic and political problems. Across the planet Earth, there are still some remaining spots in which the progress of the environmental damage is not so fast, however the number of such spots decreases, while there are still more and more places in which dramatic effects of global warming strike like an avalanche. Now, we encounter a situation in which the only mountain range in the Northern Hemisphere that does not lose its glacier is the Karakoram range. This phenomenon is known as “The Karakoram Anomaly”. This means that a normal situation – i.e. non-negative snow/water balance – has become an “anomaly”. Really, it’s a weird world we live in… If so, the melting caused by the global warming has been considered normal. Who knows where k time and nobody knows the upper limit of this process.



Matterhorn, September 2000

Matterhorn, September 2016

It seems that showing an example of what is going on in the Alps can be quite informative.. This particular case refers to the mountain range between the Matterhorn and Monte Rosa which is the second highest summit in the Western Europe. High mountain glaciers are very badly impacted by the global warming. In the future – not very distant, indeed – their multiple functions - ranging from giving beauty to landscape up to their economic and vital strategic role, such as potable water resources - will gradually stop being fulfilled, and many unavoidable economic and perhaps political consequences will follow.



Author and Monte Rosa, September 2000


Author and Monte Rosa, September 2016

According to the National Geographic, in the last 100 years, the Alps have lost one half of their glaciers, of which as much as 20% since 1980. The Swiss glaciers lost some 20% in area within the last 15 years. However, the issue comes down not only to the expanse but also the thickness of the ice/snow pack, which is also decreasing rapidly. The amount of ice deposit is being reduced, thus impacting the amount of fresh water deposits in the range. This problem is much more sharp in South America and to a certain extent in some regions of Asia, but it is only a matter of time before it arrives to the Alps as well. Four out of five recent years have been reported as the warmest years in the recorded history. Therefore, the glaciers vanish.


Gornerglacier, September 2000



Gornerglacier, September 2016

The Swiss nation invests a lot of money in tourism development, like ski infrastructure, but in the last few years, they have faced shortage of snow. On Christmas and the New Year’s night 2015/2016 for the first time ever, there was no snow in Zermatt at all. Fresh snowfall replenished this shortage soon, but after it melted in spring, another part of “permanent” snows also disappeared.




Run-off from the Matterhorn's western glaciers


The author was a bit confused to see a lot of snow making equipments waiting for the ski season in this particular place 

Immediately after I get out of the train in Zermatt, I take a look above - towards the mountains – at Klein Matterhorn and Breithorn. I clearly see a distressing picture of greyish shade of the remaining snow. Once upon a time, the Alpine glaciers shined like diamonds in the crown of Alpine peaks, glittering in the sunlight along the skyline of the Alps and they were mightily beautiful. So, unfortunately, their present appearance – just the few open glacier fields – does not blow the mind with its beauty like it did before. The snow is grey and one can see from a distance that it is wet, heavy and matt. Such greyish snow is characterized by lower albedo, and therefore it absorbs much more heat than fresh snow. This, in turn, causes even faster melting. In fact, the general tendency of the vanishing of ice and snow cover becomes indubitable and the process of glaciers depletion is running fast, however unequally across the area.


Snowy massif of Monte Rosa and Lyskamm as seen from Hoernli Hut, September 2000

In the Northern Hemisphere, September is the best month to make an overview of the glaciers. The old snow is already gone and fresh precipitation is yet to come. This is why the pictures illustrating this text have been taken is September, in the years 2000 and 2016, respectively. The changes can easily be seen. The conclusions are also clear. Glaciers vanish and when we compare old photographs with the more recent ones, we can notice the effects of rapid climate change, of global warming and remodeling of the mountain landscape with all consequences resulting from of these phenomena.



The two high snowless peaks that are entirely located inside Switzarland- Dom (double peak) and Taeschhorn. 




Comparative images of vanishing snow



Vanishing snow and ice cover on the foot of Z'Mutt Ridge, Western Matterhorn

Matterhorn from the North West. 1- Tiefmattengletcher, 2 & 3- icefall, 4- bottom caves underneath the glacier


Left: facilities of a small hydro power plant supplied with water from a small glacier above, Middle: Lake collecting run-off water from the west of Matt, the arrow points outflow of water from the power plant. Right: same as center.



Left: End of the ablation zone west of Matt. Right: Water leaving the glacier valley, West of Matt



About the author:

Michał Pyka (64) is a mechanical and power engineer, mountain tourist and amateur observer of glaciers and climate changes, photo amateur, and blogger michalpyka.blogspot.com

He co-operates with Polish mountaineers 'himalaists' in terms of weather forecasts, hence nicknamed "Jet Stream Manager" and is author of several articles and presentations about climate changes in the mountains.