Meltdown

(longtime lurker, first-time poster).

Did anyone else see the short article in Skiing magazine (no grief, it was free) about the effect that the heat wave in Europe this past summer, and the past 10 years in general, has had on the glaciers in Europe? The picture with the article (bad scanned copy below) was comparing 1990 to this past September. Pretty amazing difference. Apparently the ice cave that leads from the Aiguille du Midi to the Arret and the Valle Blanche is completely gone and several of the famous climbing routes have been destroyed.

Anyway, since the comparison photos seem to be one in winter, the other in late summer, I was wondering if anyway has seen the damage first hand and has an opinion about how bad it really is? Is the September photo really representative of the area, or is it just a typical summer photo. I was there in March (lower photo, courtesy CascadeCrudSkier) when the ice cave was still there and the glaciers were still in ok, but not great, shape. The last news report I read sometime in August said something like 'it will take 10 years of well-above average snowfall to regain the snow lost this summer.'

And people out there will try and convince you that global warming doesn't exist.