He’s a firsthand witness to the world’s most beautiful catastrophe.

Snow depth is alarmingly low

Matthias Huss pushes a five-meter-long measuring rod intermittently down through the snow until it hits the rock-hard glacier ice and stops. He bends down to the surface of the snow, reads the number, and records the snow depth.

»Two and a half meters«.

Matthias Huss and his research team have been measuring ice and snow depths on glaciers for nearly 20 years on 20 selected glaciers in the Swiss Alps, and Glacier de la Plaine Morte is one of them.

Through these measurements, he has become a firsthand witness to a troubling trend for the glaciers.

»If the trend we’ve seen over the last 20 years continues, then 90 percent of Swiss glaciers will be gone in 100 years«, he says.

In the fall, when glaciers typically have shed their snow cover and are at their minimum, they have, on average, lost one to two percent of their volume—every single year. The worst was seen in the extremely hot summers of 2022 and 2023, when glaciers shrank by six and four percent, respectively.

»So the glaciers, which are a beautiful signature of our country, are in steep decline. Only a few glaciers above 4,000 meters will be able to survive in the cold, unless the climate stabilizes very soon«, says Matthias Huss.

Switzerland has a tradition of over 100 years of glacier measurements, and Matthias Huss and his colleagues are committed to continuing this tradition.

»It’s not rocket science, but it means we have a robust dataset that goes back more than a century«, says Matthias Huss.

Glacier de la Plaine Morte is an atypical glacier. Normally, a glacier originates high up in the mountains and slides down the mountainside with its characteristic ice tongue. This is not the case for this glacier, which is virtually flat.

»This also means that, unlike other glaciers, it cannot retreat further up into the mountains and save itself when it gets too warm. Therefore, it is doomed to die due to global warming«, says Matthias Huss.

Built a glacier in his backyard

In the garden behind Matthias Huss’ house in a suburb of Zurich, Matthias Huss, his wife, and their two children, aged 6 and 8, have built their own glacier with the snow that fell in their garden over the winter months.

At its peak this year, it measured three meters, but by the last day of March, it had shrunk to one and a half meters in height.

»I record the height of our homemade glacier every single day and put the figures into a spreadsheet. We’ve been conducting this experiment for five years in a row,« he says, continuing:

»My data from this year shows that despite being 500 meters above sea level, it hasn’t snowed here in the past three months because the temperature has been too high,« says Matthias Huss.

He has always lived in this part of Switzerland. He recalls skiing on the local hills during his childhood, where there were ski lifts that could take people up to the hilltops. Today, the ski lifts have either been removed or stand abandoned and unused.

»There isn’t enough snow during the winter season nowadays to justify keeping the lifts open. So, the opportunity I had as a child to ski in the local mountains after school and on weekends isn’t available to my children,« says Matthias Huss.

Before the homemade glacier melts completely by the end of April, the family freezes the last bit of ice in their basement freezer. They then take it out again in the fall and put it in the backyard, so the fresh snow has a solid foundation of ice to start on.

Storing ice from an extinct glacier

In his freezer, he also keeps ice from the Pizol Glacier, which meant a great deal to him but no longer exists. It melted away in 2019, when a priest held a memorial service to bid farewell to the glacier in front of a large crowd mourning its demise. Matthias Huss was present and gave a speech.

»It was one of the first glaciers I studied as a young glaciologist, and I was responsible for measuring it before it disappeared. So, I called it my baby, and I felt melancholy and sad when the glacier couldn’t be saved and vanished«, he says.

On a summer day last year, Matthias Huss returned to the area where the Pizol Glacier once snaked down the mountainside, and where a man-made stone arrangement with the letters R.I.P. serves as a reminder that a glacier once lay there. During his visit, Matthias Huss found a piece of ice from the glacier that had survived under a layer of gravel and stones.

He hurriedly picked it up but immediately grew anxious that the last piece of ice from the deceased glacier would melt away in his arms. So, he packed it into his backpack, ran down the mountain, and rushed home, where the ice was placed in the freezer—like an urn containing the last remains of a departed loved one.

»Quick, take a photo of it because it needs to go back in the freezer before it melts«, he says.

An unknown mountain emerges from the ice

Back on the Plaine Morte Glacier, Matthias Huss is engaged in a complex setup where he is attaching a camera to a long pole to document how much snow and subsequently ice melts during the summer months.

Behind him, a small mountain is rising from the ice.

Seven years ago, there was no mountain. There was only a rock barely peeking out from the ice, which Matthias Huss encountered during his fieldwork. He was puzzled about where the rock had come from.

Over the next seven years, however, it became increasingly clear that it was not just a rock lying on the ice but rather an unknown mountain hidden beneath the ice for thousands of years, now coming to light as the ice melts. The mountain is now 21 meters tall, a testament to the fact that 21 meters of ice have disappeared in just seven years.

»Seven years ago, we didn’t even know the mountain existed. I marked the occasion by building a cairn on top of the mountain. It’ll be fascinating to see if the glacier holds more secrets as the ice melts and the landscape changes,« says Matthias Huss.

He has named the newly discovered mountain Mountain Island, because it sits like an island in the glacier, surrounded by ice and snow. For now, at least.

Heatwave in the Alps

In late June, the year’s first heatwave hits the Alps, and for the first time ever the temperature at Mont Blanc’s summit (4,807 meters) creeps above freezing.

The extreme June heat has completely stripped Plaine Morte of its snow cover—time to visit the glacier while it’s snow-free and in retreat.

Transformed into a grey and dreary glacier

The glacier is unrecognizable after just 4 months and 12 days under the intense summer sun. It’s August, and Plaine Morte has changed color from white to grey.

The attire is short sleeves, cap, hiking shoes, and sunglasses, as it’s 17 degrees Celsius at an altitude of 2,800 meters under a cloudless sky.

Now, all the snow that made the glacier and the surrounding mountains bright white during our first visit has melted away. The blanket of snow that was supposed to protect the glacier like sunscreen on our skin has completely vanished, exposing the ice.

The meltwater from the mountainsides has dragged pebbles, soil, and gravel onto the glacier, giving it a grey appearance. At this time of year, it lives up to its name, Plaine Morte, even more.

The grey glacier has crevasses so straight they look like they were drawn with a ruler. And if you look closely, you can see a complex system of meltwater channels with fast flows of turquoise and deep blue meltwater, resembling veins under translucent skin. If you close your eyes and listen carefully, you can hear the trickling sound of meltwater running beneath the brittle ice crust.

Where the currents are fastest, the meltwater bores deep into the glacier, creating cylindrical holes that can be more than 40 meters deep.

Matthias Huss, carrying his orange backpack, briskly makes his way towards the first measurement station. At the edge of the glacier, earth and ice mix into mud, making it difficult to move around.

The mountain has grown taller

At the first measuring station, we are approximately 200 meters from Mountain Island, the place where Matthias Huss first encountered the rock in 2018 that turned out to be the peak of a mountain.

At the measuring station, there is a marker pole drilled into the ice, which measured barely a meter when we were there in April, and the snow depth was measured at three meters. Now the marker pole sticks six meters up into the air.

Matthias Huss notes that in just four months, two meters of ice have melted from the glacier’s surface.

»This means that the mountain I discovered seven years ago has grown by two more meters. Since we are only halfway through the melting season, I expect the glacier will melt another two meters in the next two months, adding two more meters to the mountain«, Matthias Huss says.

He asks us to remain at the measuring station while he climbs the small mountain, so we can see with our own eyes how much ice the glacier has lost in just seven years.

As he jogs over the gray ice, which crunches with every step he takes, his figure seems to shrink.

Once he reaches the snow and ice-free mountain, he climbs it and adds to the small cairn at the top. Then he turns to face us and gazes over the entire gray glacier.

The only sound reaching our ears is the sound of meltwater running right under our feet. Suddenly, it becomes clear how significant the impact of human-induced climate change has been on the glacier in just seven years.

More than 348 meltwater wells

The research team on the glacier has welcomed a new participant since our last visit. His name is Jean-François Delhom, but for convenience, he prefers to be called Jeff. Unlike the others, he is not a researcher but a photographer who explores ice caves and meltwater wells in glaciers and captures them in the depths.

Glacier de la Plaine Morte is one of his favorite glaciers for this purpose because it does not move like others. This means that ice caves and meltwater wells created by the melting water are able to last longer and are safer to explore when Jeff rappels into the caves in full climbing gear and sometimes in a wetsuit.

»I have discovered more than 348 meltwater wells here on the glacier and have noted their exact GPS positions on a map. There’s one particular ice cave I want to show you later today, which I explored and found to be so deep that I reached the bedrock,« he says.

Dressed in a sand-colored shirt, khaki pants, and a soft hat, he momentarily appears like the ice’s answer to Indiana Jones.

The dangerous meltwater lake

After nearly five kilometers of trekking on the crunching ice, which is perforated by deep meltwater holes, we arrive at the large meltwater lake, Lac des Faverges, situated in the eastern corner of the glacier. One side of the lake is bordered by a steep mountainside.

»This is the meltwater lake that has caused significant problems for the village of Lenk down in the valley when it empties its contents. For instance, in 2018, the village was hit by a massive meltwater wave that flooded houses and destroyed infrastructure. Luckily, it didn’t result in any loss of life«, says Matthias Huss.

On this warm August day, the lake is drained of water. This happened over a week at the beginning of July, not within 24 hours like in 2018. A local team of engineers has dug an artificial channel in the ice. It is 1-4 meters wide, up to 12 meters deep, and 1.3 kilometers long, with a natural meltwater hole at the end acting as a drain.

»This way, they have managed to drain the upper part of the meltwater lake and relieve the water pressure. This means that the lake empties its contents less dramatically and over a longer period, preventing the citizens of Lenk from being hit by another meltwater wave«, says Matthias Huss.

As we sit on the ice eating our packed lunches, Matthias Huss explains that meltwater is not just a problem. On the contrary, it is an important water resource during the dry, hot summer and is used as drinking water, for producing energy, and for irrigating fields, such as the numerous vineyards in the region.

About 12 years ago, both cantons, Bern and Valais, which Glacier de la Plaine Morte straddles, benefited from the meltwater as it flowed down waterfalls and rivers, eventually supplying both the Rhine and the Rhone with meltwater.

»Now, the glacier has receded so much that all the surface meltwater flows north into the canton of Bern, while the canton of Valais in the south is almost entirely dried up and must rely on meltwater from underground sources. So, in Valais, they need to find an alternative to the glacier’s meltwater for irrigating their fields in the summer«, says Matthias Huss.

Glaciers in Switzerland generally play a crucial role in supplying Europe’s major rivers with water during the summer, Jeff explains.

»That’s why Switzerland is referred to as the water tower of Europe«, says Jeff, as we rise from lunch and resume our glacier expedition.

On the Edge of a Black Hole

On the way, Jeff stops at the large meltwater well. He has inserted some safety screws into the ice and attached a safety line, which he has tied around his waist, while he leans out over the edge of the 35-meter deep and dark ice hole, which could easily be mistaken for a black hole from outer space.

»I’ve previously climbed down to the bottom of this meltwater well. At the bottom, I discovered a horizontal tunnel that was 140 meters long, and at the end of it, there was a new meltwater well where I could climb all the way down to the bedrock. So right here, where we’re standing now, it’s 80 meters down to the bedrock, which hides a beautiful and unique ice world,« says Jeff.

A little further away, Matthias Huss stands with his notebook in hand. He says:

»If the glacier melts at about three meters per year, this beautiful ice world will be gone within 30 years.«

Everyone falls silent.

Will attend the glacier’s funeral

Matthias Huss and his team have visited all five measurement stations and recorded how much ice has melted in the first part of the melting season. We are back at the first measurement station at Mountain Island, where a surprise awaits.

Out of the blue, a meltwater lake has formed right next to the mountain.

»When I was up on the mountain three hours ago, there wasn’t a trace of a meltwater lake. Now, it’s here. It’s an example of how quickly the melting process is occurring and how the landscape is constantly changing. It’s fascinating for us glaciologists, but it doesn’t bode well for the glacier’s future«, says Matthias Huss.

August 2055

We ask him if he would like to participate in a memorial service when the Plaine Morte glacier disappears in 30 to 40 years. He answers yes.

»Plaine Morte is a glacier that I have visited countless times and have developed a close relationship with. But not all glaciers that die need a funeral. We must simply accept the fact that these icy natural phenomena are vanishing.«

Nevertheless, Matthias Huss wants to maintain a sliver of hope.

»If we succeed in reducing CO2 emissions to zero by 2050 or 2060, and thus stabilize global warming between 1.5 and 2 degrees, we could save some of the largest glaciers in the world, those that are at the highest altitudes. In other words, we could save a third of the glacier volume that exists in the European Alps today,« he says, though he knows this hope is slim.

»It won’t be enough for Europe to become climate-neutral by 2050, but also the USA, Russia, and China.«

With measuring sticks slung over his shoulder, Matthias Huss ascends the barren mountainside, scattered with loose stones, before disappearing over the ridge.

From the summit, one can cast a final glance at the gray glacier and say goodbye.