A looming rock collapse threatens a Swiss village as thawing permafrost destabilizes the Alps
KANDERSTEG, Switzerland (AP) — An unstable mountain rock formation looming above the Swiss village of Kandersteg threatens a landslide that could rival the disaster that destroyed nearby Blatten last year, a collapse scientists linked to thawing permafrost and glacier dynamics. The 1,300 residents of Kandersteg, in Switzerland’s Bern canton, live amid a quintessential Alpine landscape of sharp […]
Kandersteg, a Swiss village of 1,300 residents, faces a looming threat from an unstable mountain rock formation called Spitze Stei. The formation, part of the Alps affected by thawing permafrost and glacier dynamics, could collapse and trigger a massive landslide. Brigitte Jüni, a local resident, acknowledges the danger but acknowledges the unpredictability of nature.
In May 2025, a similar event occurred in the Loetschental valley, leading to the evacuation of Blatten due to a massive mass of rock and ice sliding down the mountainside. Professor Markus Stoffel from the University of Geneva explains that climate change exacerbates the melting of both glaciers and permafrost, increasing the risk of landslides in the Swiss Alps.
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