The Grandes Jorasses mountain forms part of the Mont Blanc massif and rises to 13,806 feet, give or take the ice on top. It straddles the boundary between Haute-Savoie in south-eastern France and the Aosta valley in Italy. The mountain has six peaks to challenge mountaineers climbing the glaciers between them.
Planpincieux Glacier on the Grandes Jorasses on High Alert
A section of the Planpincieux Glacier on the southern slopes of the Grandes Jorasses mountain is beginning to slip. On September 24, 2019 Courmayeur Mayor Stefano Miserocchi signed an order closing roads on the Italian side. That was after he learned a section of the glacier is sliding at a rate of 16 to 23 inches per day. If this breaks free it could dump about six cubic miles (250,000 cubic meters) of ice.
Courmayeur enjoys the reputation of being Italy’s best all-round ski resort. It attracts its fair share of hundreds of thousands of tourists visiting the Mont Blanc area every year. Moreover, some of these visitors overnight in mountain huts that are under evacuation orders as a precaution.
No Threat to Residents or Tourists, Experts Say
“These phenomena once again show how the mountain is going through a period of major change due to climate factors. And, therefore, it is particularly vulnerable,” Courmayeur mayor Miserocchi explained to Italian media. The Regional Government and the Fondazione Montagna Sicura (Safe Mountain Foundation) can’t say when the collapse could happen.
What we do know is warming temperatures are melting glaciers in many places and causing polar ice sheets to retreat. The law of gravity dictates some of this water will eventually enter the ocean and cause sea levels to rise.
The alarming state of the Grandes Jorasses mountain glacier follows the loss of the Okjökull glacier in western Iceland. We wonder how climate change deniers will explain this one away.
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Preview Image: South Slope of the Grandes Jorasses
