Exhibit

ICE AND ROCK AVALANCHE, BIETSCHHORN / BLATTEN, Valais (2025)

On 28 May 2025, Blatten in the Lötschental valley (canton of Valais) was hit by a massive ice and rock avalanche. Following major rockfalls on the Kleines Nesthorn and a collapse of the Birch Glacier, approximately 9 million cubic metres of ice and debris crashed into the valley, burying the village of Blatten and parts of the hamlet of Ried. The village buildings were destroyed by the debris or flooded by the Lonza River, which was dammed up by the debris.

The area marked in black indicates the path of the rock, debris and ice masses. The dark blue line marks the glacier’‘s position shortly before the event. The light blue line shows the glacier’‘s position in 1938 at the time the relief was constructed by Eduard Imhof, then Professor of Cartography at ETH Zurich.

Bietschhorn relief 1:2000 (Eduard Imhof, 1938/1939);
on loan: ALPS Swiss Alpine Museum, Bern

Further information about the exhibit