The climber in the ice ages
Posted by JACOPO on Tuesday, January 9, 2007 at 10:04 AM
Last summer we announced (Corriere della Sera of 26 July 2006) the devastating reduction over the past decade of the glaciers in the Val Masino.
We found it an extraordinary experience to see the southern part of the Badile without even the slightest trace of snow at the feet of the rock-face.
We have observed the extinction of glaciers that, until a few years ago, surrounded the southern faces of almost all the peaks above 3,000 metres – Rasica, the western and southern Torrione, the Sfinge, Punta Allievi and the Ferrario peak – to name but a few.
It is extraordinary to note that the streams flowing into the Rifugi Allievi and Gianetti are almost dry.
We would never have expected that the following autumn would be so warm and lacking in snow with mountain temperatures rarely falling below zero.
The awe inspiring frozen winter waterfalls now only exist in memories or the photographs of past experiences.
Pizzo Badile North Face (July 1998 - July 2006).
For us climbers, warm temperatures have never been a particularly insidious enemy. On the contrary, in the less extreme seasons, they have been an excellent companion to our adventures.
In distant geological eras, the earth has probably suffered climates that were much hotter than now with banana groves growing on the slopes of Mont Blanc or the Cervino…
Nonetheless, the current situation still makes quite an impression.
Despite being old climbers from another generation, it also makes quite an impression to be the living witnesses of climatic changes that we always thought could only be observed over geological eras.
In the meantime, we have become, over the space of a generation, "climbers come from the cold, from the ice age". We are living fossils who keep closed in their cupboards ice axes and shining clamps – assault weapons that, together with spats and enormous padded jackets, were once part of the indispensable equipment of the true Alpine climber.
Gli ultimi rapporti sull'evoluzione del clima sembrano davvero catastrofici.
Il fatto è che i cambiamenti geologici e climatici ci sono sempre stati; quello che spaventa è la velocità degli stessi.
Solo 8 anni per la morte di un ghiacciao è preoccupante.
Si dice che nel 2100 anche la Valle d'Aosta potrebbe non avere più ghiacciai..
E che dire del permafrost? Senza il prezioso collante naturale, le rocce sono destinate a crollare.