“Summer erases memories just as it melts snow, but the glacier is the snow of distant winters, it is a winter memory that does not want to be forgotten”
cit. Paolo Cognetti
So let’s learn something more about glaciers, these huge and imposing giants of perennial snow, which hide in the most remote and fascinating parts of the earth.
Glaciers were born about 700 million years ago, with the first terrestrial glaciation. To date, the largest glacier in the world is the Antarctic Glacier, the Lambert, 400km long and more than 50km wide. In the Alps, the largest glacier is the Aletsch glacier in Switzerland, with over 120 square km of surface area and 11 billion tons of ice. In addition, it should be known that the depth of a glacier can even exceed 1000 meters… in short, immense!
What are the main Italian glaciers? There are only three Italian glaciers with an area of more than 10 km2. The largest is that of Adamello, which is located in Lombardy and Trentino, with its 16.4 km2. In second place, the Forni glacier (11.3 km2) in the Ortles-Cevedale and the Miage glacier (10.4 km2), on Mont Blanc.
Where is the southernmost glacier in Europe located?It’s called the Grotta del Gelo and it’s that magical place that, in Sicily, makes you feel like you’re in the Himalayas. A unique cavity that preserves the southernmost glacier in Europe.
These giants of perennial snow allow summer snowboarding, which in the Alps can be practiced in various locations: Les 2 Alpes, the Stelvio, Cervinia, Hintertux, Saas Fee, and others.
Unfortunately, however, in recent years climate change has been completely upsetting our glaciers.A dramatic fact: in recent decades, 200 glaciers have disappeared throughout the Alps!
Let’s realize,about 70% of the fresh water on Earth is contained in glaciers, which means that if the glaciers melted completely, the sea level would rise by about 70 meters, submerging most of territories and cities, such as Rome, Naples, London, Berlin, etc.
So, in addition to covering the ski slopes on the glaciers with tarpaulins (which allow them to melt about half), we absolutely must continue to raise awareness of climate change, to finally understand how in addition to the real changes dictated by governments and “the great powers”, we too, in our daily lives, all together, can make a difference.
Summer is coming… And (almost) everyone starts thinking about holidays imagining a crowded beach, sun, sea and the “beautiful coconut”. Beautiful? Yes… but sometimes a bit boring or even ‘stressful’ for those of us who love fresh air, contact with nature and sport. In fact, we at 6PUNTO9 – although we occasionally allow ourselves an escapade to the sea, if possible out of season – still associate summer with snow, snowboarding, fun, sharing the emotions that only snowboarding can give us.
All this thanks to the Les 2 Alpes glacier that has hosted us since 1998, our “winter memory that does not want to be forgotten”, as defined by the writer Paolo Cognetti, who has a visceral relationship with the mountains… like us.
Let’s protect our glaciers. Let’s protect our land. Let’s protect the lives of our children.
Family 6punto9