The UN has declared 2025 as the year of glacier preservation. Here's how to visit one safely

BBC News

22-03-2025

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With glaciers disappearing at an alarming rate, 2025 has been named the Year of International Glacier Preservation. Here's how and where to see one responsibly before it's too late.
On an exceptionally warm July day in 2022, certified mountain guide Andrea Milani took a lunch break from rock climbing near the Italian Dolomites' Passo Fedaia ascent. As he ate pizza with two friends, helicopters circled and ambulance sirens wailed in the distance. A massive chunk (80m wide and 25m high) had just broken off nearby Marmolada glacier, triggering an avalanche of ice, snow and debris. Milani's two friends who'd finished that descent just hours before meeting him were the lucky ones: 11 climbers tragically died that day.
"Now more than ever, climate change is making glacier travel more dangerous. Rising temperatures mean the snow covering crevasses and seracs becomes less reliable, increasing the risk of hidden hazards," says Milani, who guides climbers, skiers, bikers and hikers of all levels safely across Northern Italy with Dolomite Mountains tours.
The reality is that one-third of glaciers could disappear from climate change by 2050 – and for Marmolada, it's 2040. This is why the United Nations has declared 2025 the International Year of Glaciers' Preservation. It has also set 21 March 2025 as the first annual World Day for Glaciers in partnership with Unesco and the World Meteorological Organization. The initiatives aim to mobilise governments and organisations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and implement climate adaptation strategies to protect the planet's 200,000 glaciers as the Earth warms faster than ever before.
"Worldwide, human-caused climate change has melted so much ice from glaciers that the meltwater has raised global sea level 8cm since 1900," says Patrick Gonzalez, former principal climate change scientist for the US National Park Service and assistant director for climate and biodiversity of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
Sadly, scenes like the one at Marmolada have played out across the planet time and again. Over the past two decades, Bolivia's 18,000-year-old Chacaltaya glacier, once the world's highest ski resort, has melted completely. Italy and Switzerland were forced to redraw their shared borders last autumn due to the melt of the Matterhorn in Zermatt. And at Muir Glacier in Alaska's Glacier Bay National Park, climate change has melted away a layer of ice as tall as New York's One World Trade Center.
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These slow-moving, fast-retreating dense masses of ice, snow and rock that have accumulated in the mountains over centuries on every continent except Australia are glaring evidence that man-made climate change exists. If all glaciers were to melt today, sea level would increase by a half a metre, leaving entire cities underwater, devastating ecosystems and depriving two billion people of drinking water.
But travellers can still visit glaciers like Marmolada safely – they just need to know how. In fact, research has shown that seeing a glacier in nature can prompt us to protect the planet. Glaciers are now a symbol of its fragility, reminding us how, through simple cost-effective solutions like walking, biking and purchasing solar and wind energy, we can help limit global warming.
While 91% of glaciers are in Antarctica, many can be found in more accessible parts of the world, so go visit one; it's easier than ever, just make sure you proceed with caution.
Wapta Icefield, British Columbia, Canada
Mountaineers, skiers and nature lovers from all over the world flock to the Canadian Rockies for irresistible high alpine terrain, and that includes the Columbia Icefields. Straddling the majestic Banff and Jasper national parks on the Continental Divide, it's all that's left of an ice mass that once enveloped most of western Canada's mountains. Ride the Ice Explorer train to the Athabasca Glacier to walk the glass-floored Columbia Icefield Skywalk with sweeping views over the waterfalls coming from the Sunwapta Valley's glacier and the famous mountain goats of Glacier Lookout along the cliffs.
Shaun King
If you are bold enough to climb the glacier, go with an experienced Yamnuska Mountain Adventures guide. You'll learn about glacier dynamics, route finding and risk management on one of the largest icefields in North America. It's an adventure that demands respect and preparation, says Yamnuska mountain guide Jesse de Montigny.
"The primary danger is crevasses – deep, often hidden cracks in the ice that can be difficult to detect, especially when covered by snow," says de Montigny. "Weather conditions can change rapidly, creating whiteout conditions that make navigation difficult. Proper rope systems, glacier travel techniques and crevasse rescue knowledge are essential for mitigating risk in these environments."
Mendenhall, Alaska
Mendenhall is one of more than 100,000 glaciers in what's appropriately called the "Glacier State". Inside the Tongass National Forest, 19km from Juneau along the Alaska-Canada border in south-eastern Alaska, is the Juneau Icefield. It's also one of Alaska's only glaciers that can be reached for viewing by car or shuttle; start your adventure at the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center.
More like this:
• Visiting Antarctica or the Arctic? Here's how to minimise your impact
• Why humans are drawn to the ends of the Earth
• Antarctic tourism: Should we just say no?
Since it has been melting excessively in recent years, you'll need to join a helicopter tour to get more than a look out at the glacier; to hike it (or fly over it) try Alaska Shore Excursions. (The glacier's ice caves are no longer safely accessible.)
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Note: As of 13 March, the majority of the glacier's Forest Service park rangers and staff were laid off due to federal cuts, despite the tourist season commencing in April. Meanwhile the Juneau Icefield is melting five times faster than it was in the 1980s.
Marmolada, Italian Dolomites
It's worth overcoming your fear of heights for the "Queen of the Dolomites", located within Northern Italy's 12 interconnected Dolomiti Superski resorts. Take the cable car up, and whether you ride back down or ski the glacier, make a stop at Europe's highest museum to learn about World War One tunnels dug by Austro-Hungarian soldiers who lived there for months in their glacier "Ice City".
Crevasses can be sneaky, hiding under thin layers of snow, so knowing how to spot and test them is crucial – Andrea Milani
If you decide to brave mountaineering or climbing, be sure to hire a guide. Miliani always tells his Dolomite Mountains tour groups to stay aware and read the environment. "Glacier mountaineering isn't just about skill; it's about preparation, experience and respect for the environment, he says. His advice? Distance yourself from the next climber (by 8-12m) moving along the rope at a steady pace and avoid sudden movements that could throw off your balance. Check the map and the weather (the colder the better), and most importantly, the avalanche forecast. Wear the right gear, pack a self-rescue kit, GPS, compass, altimeter and radio or satellite phone. And don't leave home without taking a first-aid course.
"Crevasses can be sneaky, hiding under thin layers of snow, so knowing how to spot and test them is crucial," he adds. "If you're crossing a snow bridge [an arc formed by snow across a crevasse] make sure it's stable before stepping onto it. And let's not forget seracs and avalanche zones – don't hang around under them longer than necessary."
It's just got easier to visit Chamonix's Mer de Glace (also known as Montenvers), only second in size in the Alps to Switzerland's Aletsch Glacier. This iridescent ice aqua glacier – transmitting a blue wavelength and absorbing all the other colours – has become harder to view after losing 6m of thickness a year.
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Since last year, though, visitors' can now see Mer de Glace via a new gondola from a 1,913m-high panoramic platform. There's an on-site restaurant, coffee shop, museum and even an ice cave that visitors can still walk through – originally cut into the glacier in 1992 by high mountain guides and now re-dug every summer because, like icebergs, glaciers are always moving, more than ever now. Access the gondola by taking the train up the mountain from Chamonix town centre.
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