Morteratsch Glacier, Alpine glacier in Grisons, Switzerland

Morteratsch is an alpine glacier in the Canton of the Grisons, extending for several kilometers through the Bernina Range and showing bluish ice between dark rock walls. The glacier tongue ends today in a wide debris field where meltwater forms a grey stream flowing down between the stones.

Yearly length measurements of the Morteratsch Glacier have been recorded since 1878. By 1998 the ice had retreated over 1.8 km, an average of about 17.2 m per year, and the loss quickened to roughly 30 m per year between 1999 and 2005. The front has pulled back more than 2,800 m from the former site of the Morteratsch railway station, which once stood directly at the ice.

The Romansh name Vadret da Morteratsch is explained by a local legend: Annetta of Pontresina died of grief before her beloved Aratsch returned, and he rode into the glacier; her nightly lament "Mort Aratsch" (Aratsch is dead) gave the name. A 20-station glacier trail explains glaciology, geomorphology and vegetation, with signs recording the ice retreat.

The path from the train station to the glacier tongue takes about fifty minutes and runs flat over gravel ground that can become slippery in rain. Warm clothing is advisable even in summer, as cold winds blow down from the ice and noticeably lower the temperature.

Plant species such as saxifrage and willowherb colonize the freshly exposed rock often just a few months after the ice has retreated. These pioneers prepare the soil for later vegetation and show an accelerated ecological transformation.