Glacier Melt Watching …

… from our balcony tonight and feeling sad as so much snow has gone on the glaciers this year, leaving vast areas of black ice which then melt even more quickly, creating rivers in the crevasses. Pema, our Sherpa friend, is with us this weekend. He works on paths around, and on, the Diablerets Glacier. This year there is only ice there, summer skiing is a thing of the past. I have just heard the Matterhorn is closed to climbers, and the easier routes on Mont Blanc have not opened this year. Melting permafrost and glaciers have made routes on these iconic mountains too dangerous. Vintage climbers had this wonderful playground at the right moment. I wish to apologise to would be young alpinists for unwittingly robbing them of their dreams.