Spectacular And Short-Lived: Go Inside Ice Caves On A Swiss Glacier
Adventurous hikers from around the world are flocking to the Morteratsch glacier in eastern Switzerland, not just to walk along the glacier but to go inside it.
The frigid, winter weather has provided the rare opportunity to step inside and explore stunning caves carved under the ice. Melting water from the glacier creates the twisting tunnels as it surges out from the ice. During the winter months, the freezing conditions make it safe to venture into the large cavities.
But during the summer, the streaming water becomes torrential. Add to that the danger of large, thawing ice shards falling from above, and the caves can become lethal and virtually impossible to visit.
Those lucky enough to step inside the ice caves described them as "beautiful" and "fantastic."
August Vallat was visiting the Alps from Denmark and he told Reuters, "Well, it feels amazing. I feel surpassed, you know, when I walked in, it's like something that is very big compared to me. I feel like I'm a small creature when I'm in this here and I feel like I'm a part of nature."
Hanny Raich, a tourist from Italy, said she's worried the glacier might soon disappear because of global warming: "You can hear the water running through the glaciers when you go right into them, and it will all be over in a few years, which is a real shame."
Rising temperatures have glaciers in the Alps retreating at an "alarming" rate, says the Crea Mont Blanc, a research center for Alpine ecosystems. According to the center, since 1850, the glaciers have lost between 30 and 40% of their surface area and half their volume, with as much as another 20% in volume lost since 1980.
Studies have predicted more than half of Switzerland's small glaciers will be gone within the next 25 years.
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