Why Do Swiss Mountains Collapse? It’s Complicated

After a big mountain fall broke off in 2017, the rock movements at Piz Cengalo are now less worrying.

Why do Swiss mountains collapse? It’s complicated

Discover why Swiss mountains are collapsing more frequently and how climate change and melting permafrost are destabilizing the Alps.

A mountain makes its "last breaths", as an expert describes the situation in southern Switzerland. Now also the glacier above the village of Blatten is increasingly moving.

Thanks to a sophisticated monitoring system, the inhabitants of the municipality of Blatten (VS) were evacuated in time. SRF asked the geographer Yves Bühler to detail its operation.

In the Swiss holiday region Lötschental in Valais there is a risk of a rock fall. The village of Blatten was cleared at short notice on Monday. Around 300 inhabitants had to leave their houses.

Under surveillance since the 1990s and increased by the 3 million cubic metres of rock that had fallen in recent days, the Birch Glacier moved towards the village of Blatten and could break. The warming of the permafrost probably contributed to this very rare event.For Alban Brigger, "the probability that massive landslide and Blatten shaved has greatly decreased." In the Lötschental, the worst of scenarios seems to be ruled out after days of an…