Corinne stands in her workshop in Hasliberg, a mountain village between Engelberg and Interlaken. The chain of mountains she can see from her window is her inspiration, source of strength and, above all, part of her work. Landscapes – particularly glaciers – are a window into the past for Corinne. The changes are manifest here. Through her work, she hopes to open the viewer’s eyes to the beauty of nature. But also to warn how this may be lost as a result of climate change.

The mountains give me a chance to experience nature as it is – raw, wild, powerful and incredibly beautiful. Through a real bond with nature and by immersing myself in the beauty of what there is, I try to capture this in my work, and I hope to inspire people to protect these places. Art can communicate problems and awaken feelings in people that motivate them to act. I hope that my paintings inspire a bond with nature. 

“Art can communicate problems and awaken feelings in people that motivate them to act. I hope that my paintings inspire a bond with nature.”

My paintings try to capture a particular moment in time, but sometimes the landscape has already changed by the time the artwork is finished. Every summer, I go to the Findel Glacier in Zermatt, which means that I can capture the year-by-year changes in the ice. Seeing these changes with my own eyes has strengthened my resolve to help protect special places like this.

My commitment to the climate is particularly influenced by the fact that we live in a circular economy, where everything is connected. Decisions that I take here – in a transaction, for example – will affect things at the other end of Planet Earth. And that’s not just on an environmental level, but also in human terms. Just by keeping an eye on our shopping habits, we can make a big impact.

The same applies to the environment: protecting the local environment is very important, but we also need to bear in mind that it’s part of a larger whole. You cannot really separate the two. And that’s why, with our climate activism, we need to think about both our direct surroundings and international issues.

He has worked as a cook, as a pilot and as a nurse. But it is mountain huts that mean the world to him. For nine years, Christoph was hut warden at the famous Konkordia Hut by the Aletsch Glacier. He experienced at very close hand how – and above all how quickly – the glaciers are changing and receding.

The first Konkordia Hut was built in 1877, around 50 metres above the glacier, and today it stands around 200 metres above Konkordiaplatz. The Grindelwald section of the Swiss Alpine Club (SAC) has worked tirelessly to maintain clear access to the hut – with great difficulty, the ladders were converted into steel steps in the 1970s. This summer, the whole staircase had to be moved due to rockfall and vertical rockslides. If the glacier continues to shrink by around one metre per year, however, this place may even have to be closed.

We’ve been living in the Konkordia Hut for nine years now. Once we started school, there was a teacher for each of the three children in the team and two to three helpers for the hut. With 155 beds, we need to juggle these being empty and full, since access is different depending on the time of year. Improvisation and flexibility are therefore the order of the day, and that’s exactly what we liked about the challenge. The range of different tasks as hut warden is practically endless. It includes managing a large household, technical challenges in various areas and even medical tasks.

As hut warden, I see the changes happening right in front of me. The glacier’s withdrawn location and securing access up to the hut are challenges that lend my day-to-day work that certain something. The glaciers are beautiful and fascinating, as if time were unfolding right before your eyes. I have already found fossilised shells in steep rocks that are thousands or millions of years old – an authentic part of the Earth’s historic timeline. This all fills me with wonder and awe when I stand in front of the glacier.

At the age of 15, Nico Hojac completed a language study programme in Val Ferret. But instead of learning French, he discovered his love of the mountains. Aged just 18, he climbed the north face of the Eiger for the first time. Since then, he has faced a succession of new challenges. And with every project, Nico increasingly understands how much climate change is damaging his sport, his work and his passion. So he has decided not to remain passive in the face of this.

Mountaineering will become more dangerous in future. As the permafrost layer melts, there will be more and more rockfall, which can be fatal. Melting glaciers also often leave scree and boulders, making paths and roads harder to access. In addition, climate change not only causes glacier melt; it also means the weather will become unpredictable and extreme, making it increasingly difficult to predict when it will be safe to climb.

It may be difficult to imagine that you can make a difference as an individual, but we shouldn’t give up hope. Everything plays a part, no matter whether these changes are large or small. I decided that I would only go on one expedition per year and therefore fly as little as possible. Things that most people can do are to eat less meat, fly less often, and just really think about their choices.

I think it’s important to address these problems and share them with others. It’s not just about saving the mountains, but the whole planet. The impacts that we see in glaciers are just the tip of the iceberg. This is why I am also supporting NGOs such as “Protect Our Winters”, and it’s also why I’m talking about this problem. The more information people have, the better the decisions they will make, and the more hope we will have of finding a way out of this crisis.