Further Rockfalls Threaten the Alps
27th August 2026
The situation near the Weisshorn in Switzerland is worsening with the alert now raised to Level 3 after further glacier collapses. There are fresh warnings of more to come in the French Alps. NEW
The situation on the Weisshorn near Randa in the Valais canton in southwestern Switzerland remains tense.
Last Monday at least three rockfalls occurred on the Weisshorn East hanging glacier.
The largest of these is said to have come down between 5pm and 6pm.
Due to a significant increase in movement the authorities had already raised the alert level to 3.
The municipality stated that, due to the current poor weather conditions, it was not currently possible to make a reliable assessment of the volume of the avalanches.
Whether the increased risk will persist or whether the situation will ease is being closely monitored.
A ban on entry to the area remains in force within the defined perimeter until further notice.
Other areas of the Swiss Alps are being closely watched.
There have been record rockfalls this summer across many parts of the Alps.
The hot summer in the Alps has seen a record number of rockfalls, some of them fatal, with “a large majority attributable to the climate crisis”, according to Ludovic Ravanel, the research director at CNRS, France’s national scientific research centre.
This year “will undoubtedly be a record year” both in terms of the frequency of rockfalls and the sheer volume of rock breaking away from the mountains on an almost daily basis, he said to the AFP newsagency.
At the end of a summer punctuated by extreme heatwaves, the number of rockfalls recorded in the Mont Blanc massif alone is expected to reach 450.
“That is an absolutely staggering figure, given that just 10 or 20 years ago, there were only a few dozen,” said the geomorphologist.
The previous record stood at 300 and was set in 2022, another year marked by heatwaves.
Many have been triggered by melting permafrost, often known as the glue that holds the mountains together.
Rockfalls are also caused as glaciers melt and de-stablise the mountain side.
The authorities on Mont Blanc have taken action by closing the two refuges used by those heading to the summit.
Mont Blanc, France. Image © PlanetSKI
Ravanel doesn’t believe access to the high mountains should be completely restricted, describing them to AFP as “above all, a place of freedom”.
“The mountaineering community regulates itself” and “does not put itself at greater risk during a heatwave than during a cooler summer”, he said.
Related Articles:
- Swiss villages threatened by melting glaciers
- Another Swiss village evacuated due to landslide threat
- Monitoring rockfalls in the Alps
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