The thick layer of ice that has covered a Swiss mountain pass for centuries will have melted away completely within a few weeks, says a ski resort.
Following a dry winter, the summer heatwaves hitting Europe have been catastrophic for the Alpine glaciers, which have been melting at an accelerated rate.
The pass between the Scex Rouge and Tsanfleuron glaciers has been iced over since at least the Roman era. But as both glaciers have retreated, the bare rock of the ridge between the two is beginning to emerge and will be completely ice-free before the summer is out.
“The pass will be entirely in the open air in a few weeks,” the Glacier 3000 ski resort said in a statement on Thursday.
While the ice measured about 15 metres (50 feet) thick in 2012, the ground underneath “will have completely resurfaced by the end of September”.
The ridge is at an altitude of 2,800 metres in the Glacier 3000 ski domain and effectively marks the border between the Vaud and Valais cantons in western Switzerland.
R&I – FS
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Article URL : https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2022/9/15/photos-swiss-mountain-pass-ice-to-melt-completely-within-weeks