Page 54 - DIVA 2 2025 web

Glacier in 1920

Glacier in 1970

Glacier in 1860
e tongue was here

Glacier in 2010

and Wangchuk travelled to the Grisons to Incidentally, this is not the only place where a
build the first Swiss Ice Stupa together with eece cover is used, and our magazine wrote
Swiss glaciologists and architects. Today the about the eece covering of the Glacier du Rhône
biggest Ice Stupa in Europe is in Diavolezza; (DIVA ID, no.2/2022). Whilst you may think that
it is 14 meters high, and set to reach 20 metres Grisons and Morteratsch are far away, the Glacier
in favourable weather conditions. This project du Rhône is much closer to us. It is the source
is made possible thanks to the automatic of the Rhône River, which ows through Lake
control system developed by the Lucerne Leman and our City of Geneva, before going on
University of Applied Sciences and Arts and to France. However, this eece cover was used
the initiative of the GlaciersAlive association, to protect the ice cave in the glacier, and raised
the Gletschervision GmbH, the Diavolezza much criticism, showing again the importance
cable car, Go Vertical and BerninaGlaciers. of cooperation between research institutions,
The installation of a ground-independent individuals, and organisations if the aim is to
snowmaking system could protect the glacier reach tangible results to protect glaciers.
as well, ensuring drinking water for this big
region. Measurements against the
glacier retreating
Fleece cover - is idea is not new, and We also wanted to study the history of the
perhaps originated from observations at the Morteratsch Glacier retreat, and for that
Karakoram Anomaly showing that the “black”, we needed to stay “underneath’ the glacier.
covered glaciers are melting far more slowly. Mortreratsch train station, with its accompanying
Any glacier cover must, however, be durable, nice hotel, is 3km from the glacier itself because
resist harsh elements, and also white, to re ect when it was built the glacier tongue reached this
the sun’s rays. Fleece covers are one of the area. Now it can only be seen, wild and beautiful,
few successfully implemented methods. Solar in the distance.
radiation is re ected by the white material
and 50-60% of the snow underneath can be While hiking through the green landscape to the
conserved. e innovative eece used on the glacier, it was interesting and sad to see the marks
Diavolezza is made of polypropylene, a durable of the glacier’s retreat. Also, because of the scale
thermoplastic polymer that can be made of of the glacier, it sometimes felt further away as
100% recycled material. we get nearer to it, until suddenly we were nearly

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