“That’s a honkin’ big hunk’a ice” Posted on July 1st, 2019 by

Our main activity of the day was descending into a valley to reach the Mer de Glace glacier, and entering an ice cave that had been carved out into the glacier. One of the most astonishing things about our first up close and personal interaction with the glacier was the almost incomprehensible rate of melting that has occurred over the past 199 years. As we descended the stairs into the valley towards the ice cave, there were markers showing former elevation of ice during different years throughout history. The time markers began in 1820 and captured various time frames between then and the year 2005. At the beginning, many years had passed as we descended multiple staircases. But as time went on, it became evident that the glacier was melting at a much more rapid pace, as fewer years had passed as we descended seemingly equivalent distances. Towards the bottom, these figures got more and more shocking, until we finally reached the marker indicating the ice level in 2010. To think that the ice was tens of metres higher during the summer that Katy Perry released “California Girls” than it is today was frightening. It was eye-opening to see how drastic the rate of glacial melt has increased in more recent years. Since the year 1984, the Mer de Glace glacier has receded approximately 40 metres per year on average, a much higher rate than the previous century.

The group in the ice cave

A waking dream

This marker shows the elevation that the glacier was at in the year 1820. You can partially see the glacier in the distance.

After we finished up with our (mis)adventures in the ice caves, a few members of the group decided to hike back up the trail instead of taking the gondola because we thought that everyone else was also hiking. By the time we reached the top, approximately 10,000 stairs and four friendly dog encounters later, we were completely and totally too tired to continue the death march further up the mountain. When we were coming up on the train, we had seen an Alpine slide and conspired to sneak away to lose our jet-lag to the whipping wind. Now, with the perfect excuse in hand, we made our way back down the mountain to the small amusement park. The luge (alpine slide) was only 7 euros per ride for two people, and it was an absolute blast. The views of the alpine landscape as we screamed down the mountain were literally breathtaking. The looming pinnacles of the glacier carved spires and the gentle roll of le Mont Blanc remained constant as the fertile green of grasses and summer wildflowers raced by in the foreground.

Descending the mountain

The other half of the group went on a 2 hour hike up a mountain, and saw many lovely glacial views from a distance, as well as several landscapes that have been carved out by glaciers. The rocky path guided us up the mountain with an abundance of switchbacks, leading to a large pile of rocks atop a mountain. Along the path, there were many plants, shrubs and wildflowers, but trees became scarce as we increased in elevation. At the top of the mountain, we climbed on top of the rocks to see incredible views below of the town of Chamonix, in the center of the U-shaped valley, which was carved out by a historical glacier. Mont Blanc was behind us, and we were surrounded by several other large mountainous peaks. 

Ascending the mountain

The group at the top of the hike

 

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