Aletsch glacier in winter

The area of the Aletsch Glacier in Valais and some surrounding valleys is on the UNESCO World Heritage list, thus it is protected and the facilities are mostly restricted the external zones. The region between Belalp Riederalp and Bettmeralp (which is called Aletsch Region) inValais gives access to the lower part of the glacier. The Bettmerhorn and Eggishorn are popular view points and are accessible by cable car. The Massa river can be crossed since 2008 by a suspension bridge, thus allowing hikes between the left and the right part of the glacier.

Glacier on my feet

The Aletsch Glacier resulted from the accumulation and compaction of snow. Glaciers generally form where snow and ice accumulation exceeds snow and ice melt. As the snow and ice thicken it reaches a point where it begins to move due to a combination of gravity and pressure of the overlying snow and ice.

Walking on the glacier

Glacier yang terus mencair akibat pemanasan global

Glacier yang mencair dimusim panas membentuk rongga

Tracking menuju glacier dari Bettmeralp

Bekas dasar glacier yang mencair mulai ditumbuhi vegetasi

Aletsch in summer

Since the last glaciation, the glacier generally retreated. However slight climatic changes happened and, in 1860, the glacier was 3 km longer and the ice level 200 m higher.

Aletsch diambil dari jalur tracking Moosfluh - Riederfurka. As for many other glaciers, records show a major longer-term retreat trend

Aletsch taken from Belalp

During the last glacial periods, the Aletsch Glacier was much larger than now. 18,000 years ago the lower part of the ridge, between Riederalp and the glacier, was completely covered by ice. Only the summits of the Bettmerhorn, Eggishorn and the Fusshörner were above the glacier. After an important retreat, the glacier again advanced 11,000 years ago during the last glacial period. The glacier reached the Rhone valley, and its ice the Riederfurka. Remaining morainesare still visible in the Aletsch Forest.

On August 18th, 2007, photographer Spencer Tunick used hundreds of naked people in a "living sculpture" on the Aletsch Glacier in a photo shoot intended to draw attention to global warming and the shrinking of the world's glaciers. The temperature was about 10 °C (50 °F) at the time of the photo shoot. The 600 participants on the shrinking glacier volunteered for Tunick (a collaboration with Greenpeace) to let the world know about the effects of global warming on the melting Swiss glaciers.^[6] The Aletsch Glacier receded by 100 m (330 ft) between 2005 and 2006..

Catatan:
Glacier ini dapat dilihat dengan menempuh perjalanan kereta dari Zurich ke Brig (2 jam via Bern). Dapat dilihat dari Belalp, Bettmeralp, atau Rieder Furka. Daerah-daerah ini ditempuh dengan menggunakan kereta regional atau bus, dan dilanjutkan dengan kereta gantung.