@meteomorris,
als we toch bezig zijn, hier een bericht van 25 juli over de gletsjers op de Monte Rosa:
Opening a gateway through a crevasse on COLLE VINCENT:
The route to Capanna Margherita and the summit of Monte Rosa is accessible again
Success for the mission carried out by the mountain guides of Alagna and Gressoney this morning, in collaboration with the refuges Mantova and Gnifetti
ALAGNA VALSESIA (VC), July 24, 2015 - Colle Vincent, 4,000 meters above sea level.
Until last night here was a high wall of ice along the normal route to the Capanna Margherita and the summit of Monte Rosa, making it difficult to follow this route. Three and a half meters high and preceded by a large longitudinal cut across the slope it was too much to cross it with just crampons on your feet.
But this morning the problem is solved. A team of local professionals has in fact completed successfully a complex and delicate mission aimed to reopen and assure the stretch. After climbing up early in the morning, the mountain guides of Alagna and Gressoney, in collaboration with the managers of the shelters Gnifetti and Mantova, have reshaped the critical point by literally opening up a gap with their pickaxes, an effort that led to a few hours exhausting work, made even harder by the difficulties created by the high altitude.
With this result, the main way to the highest parts of the mountain range is passable again. A major achievement for the friends of Monte Rosa, who feared for the consequences of the abnormal heat now the climbing season in full swing.
At Monte Rosa, as in the rest of the Alps, it is in fact a summer that will not be easily forgotten. Only a few days ago, the columns of mercury have recorded about 8 degrees above zero at Capanna Margherita, the highest hut in Europe at 4,554 meters. An unprecedented event and almost incredible, that caused special conditions across the glacier, not only the formation of strong gradients on the two edges of the Colle Vincent. But hopes of all professionals who work every day on these peaks, and accordingly are fully aware of the conditions in the area, are optimistic: "We hope that the abnormal heat wave runs out quickly - explain the local mountain guides, for which the ascent to Capanna Margherita is one of the most classic and loved itineraries - and that the glacier will soon return to its normal state. Anyhow -and be sure - it is essential for anyone who decides to ascent these mountains to follow the most important and essential safety rules ".
The very clear and basic requirement for every mountaineer, either novice or expert, to observe to prevent risks to their own and others' safety and needed for maximum caution on the way that is still (incredibly) many times not respected, is to always take ropes on the glacier to address safety and prevent a possible fall in a crevasse. But that is not all: "You have to go in time, explain the mountain guides. Although the conditions of the various normal routes are in general not alarming, it is important to only proceed at night and during the early hours of the day, when the conditions of the ice are better. With these conditions, the arrival to the huts or to the various other destinations should not, as a rule, exceed the early afternoon. Above all, finally, the main rule is always: if you want to go up in high-altitude but do not feel fit to climb independently, it is crucial to rely on a mountain guide, whose skills allow to evaluate the glacial conditions, as well as to implement the best solutions during the climb.
Evidences of the extraordinary state of the glaciers of Monte Rosa at the moment are the historical anecdotes on how this summer is unique. Ovid Raiteri, a historic mountaineer from Valsesia and among the most frequent visitors and connoisseurs of these peaks, says he climbed in recent days from Capanna Gnifetti, a classic foothold at 3,647 meters of altitude, to the Margherita hut. "I stepped on these glaciers for the first time in 1945 and, after many, many ascends, I can say I've never seen the glacier under these conditions once before. In those early postwar years, with friends Aldo Benoni, Franco Bonardi and Ottavio Festa, we climbed a couple of times a day from Gnifetti to Margherita, bringing on food for comfort and coming back with postcards to send. We arrived there, we greeted the guide of Gressoney Caio Vincent, and listened to the radio communication of the airfield Linate for temperature conditions and clouds at high altitude. But then everything was different. The glacier was smooth, simple, viable without problems. Now it is tormented and risky: not something to be afraid of, but something that, over time, you have to consider with even more preparation and awareness ".
Friends of Rosa
http://www.rifugimonterosa.it/upload/allegati/comunicato_vincent.pdf...