Again this year, huge rockfalls are changing the shape of some of the Alps’ most iconic peaks. The latest major slides hit the Dru and the Aiguille du Midi above Chamonix, close to the cable car.
Eddy Veillet, a guard at the Plan de l’Aiguille mountain hut, filmed rocks tumbling down the north face of the Aiguille du Midi. Thanks to the cable car that runs from the center of Chamonix to the summit, it’s the most visited peak in the region.
Earlier this week, another major rockfall took place on the west face of the Dru, below the Bonatti Pillar.
Rockfall at the Dru on August 6 at 1 pm. Photo: Mark Seaton
This is the second big rockfall this summer on the Dru. The first took place on July 16. Check the video below:
The summer began with plenty of snow on the peaks, but conditions radically changed when a torrent of rain fell at the end of June. It flooded many mountain towns in France, Switzerland, and Italy. High temperatures and dry weather, beginning in the second half of July, followed.
Rockfall is not new, but climate change has increased the frequency and size of these events as the permafrost that glues the rocky faces together melts. Last summer’s high temperatures prompted several incidents throughout the Alps.
Check updated posts about the conditions around the Chamonix-area mountains here.
