Why The Alps Are Getting More Dangerous

Thanks for sharing this documentary. My grandpa spent his entire life as a high mountain guide in Chamonix. After ten years of retirement, we surprised him with a helicopter ride to revisit his beloved mountains. But the changes devastated him, seeing the landscape he knew so well completely transformed left him profoundly sad.

Never seizes to amaze me how much effort goes into these video documentaries. Aidin is one of the best, and most underrated creators on this platform by far.

I was born in the Alps and now live on the opposite side of the world 🇦🇺 I was in Chamonix and hiked other areas during last year’s summer heat wave . It made me so incredibly sad. We had temperatures of over 25C at 2500m. I witnessed the total absence of mid altitude wildlife such as marmots as it was simply too hot for them. All the streams were gushing with glacial melts and you could literally see the imminent death of the La Grave glaciers in real time.

So heart breaking to see the glaciers receding each year you climb in the Alps. It used to be a joy to watch the seracs crack and fall on the Argentière glacier, now each time a cliff of ice tumbles, it's with a huge wave of sadness.

This is not a youtube documentary, this is movie quality documentary. Absolutely mental how you manage to create sich storytelling while maintaining the already insane editing structure that is so unique

My mum was instructor for training Glacier guides in the 1960s in Norway. As a child I have been a few times with her on the glaciers. The whole landscape has completely changed from that time. None of the landscapes from the photos from that time still exists, it is all gone.

In my childhood, my parents always took me hiking in the alps during summer. I've been to almost every town mentioned in this video, and while I've never been a mountain climber, I've hiked on and around Mont Blanc several times in my life. Knowing these captivating landscapes are dying and changing so rapidly feels genuinely heartbreaking.

With my school in 2001 we went to visit the Mer de glace, I found it very stunning, already back then the local guides told us that it was melting and it won't be the same anymore, now that we can see the change, I feel grateful on one hand to have visited this 20 years ago, but I feel deeply sad regarding the tragic evolution...

As a glaciologist and mountaineer I think you've done really well to cover and explain all the key points here. It's tough watching something you love so dearly slowly die and fade into something so far removed from its former glory. With all the changes increasingly famous mountaineering routes are becoming significantly harder or untenable, which brings a sad sense of urgency to get on them before its too late.

I've been going to the French alps on holiday every summer since I was 7 months old. I'm only 20 but even I have seen first hand how fast Mont Blanc and the glaciers have melted. This summer we went on a 3-day hike, we were between an altitude of 1900m and 2800m at 10 in the morning and the temperature were above 25°C. It's devastating and honestly really scary to think about these landscapes slowly disappearing.

This is next level storytelling...huge respect what you are doing❤❤❤❤

Very well done, and well researched video, Aidin. I am a mountaineering guide myself on Mount Rainier, here in Washington state. We are experiencing the same sort of thing as the Alps. Our glaciers here are similarly melting at an alarming rate, and it seems that every year, the climbing season where it is considered safe to take clients up onto the glaciers seems to shrink and shrink. Not long ago at all, we used to climb from April to October. Now, we’ve just had to shut down again in mid August because of no safe route to the summit. Most people don’t think of climate change too much, or if they do, they don’t personally see any way it affects them. Living near the mountains all of my life, and my hobbies and employment depending on them, I see the effects of climate change every year, and especially over the last decade or so, looking back. Unfortunately once the snow and ice melts, it never seems to come back, even on a very good snow year. The summers get warmer and warmer, as the freezing level climbs higher and higher. We can see every year new parts of the mountains exposed, that have been covered in ice for countless thousands of years. My hope is that we start voting for climate action now - not years or decades later before significant change in our trajectory is too little, too late.

Living at the foot of some of the highest peaks of the Alps, this ideo actually managed to bring me to tears. It's so heartbreaking to see my home melting away.

It's hard to believe you don't have more subscribers. I love your storytelling. Soo much re-watch value. Keep it up man 👏

I have been fortunate enough to climb all the 4000m peaks & ski in the Alps for 30+ years. I have witnessed the shrinking of the Mer de Glace with my own eyes, annual photographs and sore muscles from the additional metal steps year on year. In February this year I skied the Vallee Blanche for what I believe will be my last time. The lower half now resembles a polished ice rink with the rubble field and the metal steps to finish. 5 days ago I took my young children to Cham’ to see Daddy’s mountains and had the realisation that I may never stand on the summit of Mont Blanc wih them. The same scene was apparent on a trip to Zermatt, looking up from Randa & Tasch towards the Mischabel chain. Where once there was ice, now crumbling rock. Heartbreaking.

Please don’t advertise for Better Health. They’re getting under a microscope for their shady business practices..

Incredible visuals and camerawork as usual! The lack of snowfall in my area is very evident over the last decade, sad to see.

As a climber, this is such a well told story. I've lost a few friends to falling rocks - all caused by melting permafrost. It's a crazy feeling, seeing this wonderful environment slowly wither away, and feeling the danger of it. Thank you for telling the glacier's story, and telling ours.

Wow, I climbed this mountain without any experience half a month ago with two of my friends. I quit at the Gouter Hut because of a tragic accident which opened my eyes. Seeing this brings back these memories in an instant. Thank you for uploading this masterpiece Aidin!

The storytelling was so beautiful, at the end the music with the drone shots showed how beautiful the snow/glaciers on the mountains were mixed with "this isnt going to be here forever"