Glaciers draw attention to some of society’s most entrenched issues. Samar Khan cycled 800 kilometers to the Biafo Glacier in northern Pakistan, where she rode on the 4,500 meter high glacier, one of the most elevated rides on glaciers in the world and becoming the first woman to do so. She is from Pakistani, a country where women’s rights are improving but there still exists an extreme disparity between men’s rights and women’s, which is one of the reasons Ms. Khan decided to pursue this goal.

Elliott Green is an artist known for the diversity of his images. Born in Detroit, he studied literature and took up drawing before settling into painting. His recent exhibit at Pierogi Gallery in the Lower East Side of New York includes a number of works which look like landscapes, since they show mountains, the ocean and the sky. But they also […]

In a recent study by Duccio Tampucci et al., rock glaciers in the Italian Alps have been shown to host a wide variety of flora and fauna, supporting plant and arthropod species during temporary decadal periods of climatic warming. Certain species that thrive in cold conditions have been prone to high environmental stress during warm […]

The Kunlun Mountains, featured as a mythical location in the legendary Chinese text Shanhai Jing, are one of the longest mountain chains in Asia. From the Pamirs of Tajikistan, the mountains run east along the border of Xinjiang and Tibet to the Qinghai province, forming part of the Tibetan Plateau. A number of important glaciers […]

As glacial ice melts due to global warming, explorers Borge Ousland and Vincent Colliard are in the process of skiing across the world’s 20 largest glaciers to raise awareness about climate change. Deemed the Alpina & Ice Legacy Project, the plan seeks to have the duo cross the world’s most isolated glacial realms over the […]

Roundup: Kamchatka, Cryoseismology and Bhutan   Activity in Kamchatka’s Glacier-Covered Volcanoes From KVERT: “The Kamchatka Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT) monitors 30 active volcanoes of Kamchatka and six active volcanoes of Northern Kuriles [both in Russia]. Not all of these volcanoes had eruptions in historical time; however, they are potentially active and therefore are of […]

On November 4th, the International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation (UIAA) held the 11th annual Asia Piolets d’Or awards, commemorating outstanding achievements in rock climbing and mountaineering. Considered by many to be the Oscars of alpinism, the awards have motivated progression in Asian mountaineering culture over the last decade, contributing to an ethos of safety, respect […]

Glaciers contain valuable information about past environments on Earth within the layers of ice that accumulate over hundreds or thousands of years. However, alpine glaciers have lost 50 percent of their mass since 1850, and projections suggest that glaciers below 3500m will not exist by 2100. Concerns about the loss of this valuable resource motivated […]

Mendenhall Glacier (Source: Cameron Cowles). Visiting Mendenhall Glacier near Juneau, Alaska is a memorable experience for about 575,000 visitors each year. A top attraction, the glacier stretches 13 miles across the Juneau Ice Field, terminating on the far side of Mendenhall Lake. Surrounded by 38 other glacial remnants of the last ice age, it remains one […]

During summer, a team of four students from Oxford University, led by undergraduate James Lam, completed a 184-mile expedition across the Ny-Friesland ice cap in Spitsbergen, Norway. Accompanied by a guide, Endre Før Gjermundsen, they skied across the ice cap from July 31 to August 29, retracing the route of a similar expedition conducted by […]

Mujer Montaña—“Woman Mountain” in Spanish—participated in a recent project of the International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation (UIAA), in which women climbers from Latin America and Europe carried out ascents of peaks in two mountain ranges in the Bolivian Andes. They established mountaineering records, achieving first all-female ascents and opening new routes. They met another goal as […]

Volker Schoeffl, a physician and professor in Bamberg, Germany, is a leading specialist on sports medicine, with particular emphasis on climbing. He works in both Germany. He is the physician of the German national climbing team, and also serves on the medical commissions of the International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation  and the International Federation of […]