- Title: On Mt. Titlis, blankets help protect glacier pistes from melting
- Date: 27th August 2021
- Summary: ENGELBERG, SWITZERLAND (AUGUST 25, 2021) (REUTERS) DRONE SHOT OF WORKER WALKING ON FLEECE-COVERED AREA OF GLACIER (MUTE) DRONE SHOT OF WORKER STANDING ON FLEECE-COVERED AREA OF GLACIER (MUTE) (SOUNDBITE) (French), HEAD OF SNOW CONDITIONS AND PISTE SECURITY FOR TITLIS BERGBAHNEN, GIAN DARMS, SAYING: "In total, we are now covering almost 100,000 square meters, including the tile that we are currently on. That's an area that has been growing steadily over the last few years. So we've been covering more and more in the last few years, almost 30000 square meters more this year alone. What is the reason why we are doing this? We put the fleece over the glacier like a natural shield. In order to keep the rebound properties high in summer, to preserve as much snow as possible that fell last winter." DRONE SHOT OF BULDOZER ROLLING COVER (MUTE) DRONE SHOT OF WORKER WALKING ON FLEECE-COVERED AREA OF GLACIER (MUTE) DRONE SHOT OF WORKER WALKING TOWARDS BULLDOZER (MUTE) DRONE SHOT OF FLEECE-COVERED AREA OF GLACIER (MUTE) VARIOUS OF GLACIER (SOUNDBITE) (French), HEAD OF SKI PATROL AND ACTIVITIES FOR TITLIS BERGBAHNEN, GIAN DARMS, SAYING: "What has happened to the Titlis glacier in recent years can be summed up summed up very easily: there's been a sharp decline. If you look at the detail behind me, you can see that the bottom station of the ski lift was on the left side of the rock head. That means that up to there everything was filled with glacier ice. And you can see what is left of it in the last 30 years." DRONE SHOT OF GLACIER PARTIALLY COVERED WITH FLEECE (MUTE) (SOUNDBITE) (French), HEAD OF SKI PATROL AND ACTIVITIES FOR TITLIS BERGBAHNEN ,GIAN DARMS, SAYING: "After that, the glacier will retreat continuously, but we don't have any concrete figures, but around 2050 we will no longer have a glacier at Klein-Titlis. And around 2060, with an uncertainty of 10 to 15 years, it will also have disappeared From the entire flank of Gross-Titlis."
- Embargoed: 10th September 2021 10:12
- Keywords: Alps Climate change Glacier Switzerland
- Location: ENGELBERG, SWITZERLAND
- City: ENGELBERG, SWITZERLAND
- Country: Switzerland
- Topics: Climate Adaptation and Solution,Climate Change,Environment,Europe,General News
- Reuters ID: LVA005ES21747
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:In one of Switzerland's most popular Alpine destinations, cable car personnel work over summer months on Mount Titlis to protect its glacial slopes and lifts: blanketing ice to block off the sun.
"We lay the fleece over the glacier like a natural protective shield," Gian Darms, who manages snow conditions and piste security for cable car operator Titlis Bergbahnen, told Reuters on Wednesday (August 25).
The 3,238 metre high mountain has seen large swathes of ice disappear over recent decades. Within the next half century, all of it is expected to melt.
To help keep its ski pistes running better for longer, Titlis Bergbahnen has been laying fleece over the glacier to act as a natural protective shield, but has had to continually increase cover size over recent years, Darms said.
A handful of employees work over the course of five-six weeks to cover parts of the glacier with a protective polyester fleecing, which helps stave off summer melting and preserve more of the snow which fell in the previous winter.
They now cover some 100,000 square metres, or roughly the size of fourteen football fields, with the reflective fleece, which helps radiate the sun's energy back into the atmosphere while also providing insulation from the warmer air temperatures and cooling off ice when it rains, before spending weeks peeling it back off again.
Collected snow is then used to help fill glacial cracks which otherwise might open on the resort's ski pistes, while also helping to keep in place the lift supports that are fixed into the ice.
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