Trift Glacier, Alpine glacier in Gadmen, Switzerland

Trift Glacier is a northwest-facing valley glacier near Gadmen in the eastern Bernese Oberland, not the Uri Alps. It rises on the north flank of the Tieralplistock at 3300 m and flows into a basin about 3 km wide between the Diechterhorn and the Weissen Nollen. In 2016 it was 5.4 km long and covered 14.5 km²; below 2700 m steep slopes break the ice into large séracs.

In the Little Ice Age around the mid-19th century, the Trift Glacier overlapped the rock barrier at Windegg and reached 1400 m, over 2 km further down the valley. From 1861 to 1929 it advanced about 1200 m, then retreated. Meltwater ponds appeared behind the barrier in the 1990s; in the hot summer of 2003 the glacier lost 136 m in one year. By 2023 the total retreat since 1861 was 4383 m.

The Trifthütte, a Swiss Alpine Club hut at 2520 m on the west slope of the Hinterer Tierberg, was reachable only by crossing the glacier tongue until 2004. The 2004 Triftbrücke over the Triftwasser, replaced in 2009, opened the approach to hikers; it was dismantled after an avalanche destroyed the hut in 2021.

A suspension bridge connects the hiking trail to the glacier area and provides the main access point for visitors. The route requires alpine hiking skills, and weather at high elevation can change rapidly, so proper equipment is essential.

The Triftbrücke, a 170-metre-long pedestrian suspension bridge 100 metres above the lake, was built in 2004 and replaced in 2009. It was modelled on Nepalese designs. Since 2021 the approach path has been dismantled after an avalanche destroyed the Trifthütte.