Rhone Glacier Ice Grotto
Hint
Intro
In the 19th century and up to the start of the 20th century, the glacier at the source of the Rhone stretched as far as the valley floor by Gletsch and could at times be seen by guests at the Grand Hotel Glacier du Rhône. A visit to the ice grotto by the Hotel Belvédère and the emerging glacial lake is still worthwhile today.
Description
Since the opening of the modern-day Furka pass road 150 years ago, thousands of tourists have come to see the unique mountain panorama around the Rhone Glacier. Today they park at the Hotel Belvédère and walk about 200 metres to the entrance of the ice grotto, which is re-drilled each year. The glacier looks whitish-grey, but inside the 100m long tunnel and the ice chamber it glows in magically fine shades of blue.
The glacier moves 30-40 metres each year, sometimes more than 10cm per day. A lot of ice also melts in summer – while the ice grotto is more than 100m long at the start of the season in June, by the end of the summer it is reduced to 70m. The panoramic glacier viewing platform will soon be joined by the new glacial lake platform, as a new lake forms at the end of the glacier.