Ice-saving sheets to prevent melting and preserve Presena, the glacier part of the Ponte di Legno-Tonale ski area, a complex that extends from an altitude of 2,700 meters up to two thousand and constitutes the highest part of the entire ski area in the province of Brescia on the border with Trentino The initiative is by the Ponte di Legno Consortium and seems to have an effect.
“The geotextile sheets – explains Vania Zampati – are able to reduce the melting of ice by 52%. The Presena is a very precious resource for us and the covering operation with geotextiles began in 2008, when the rocks below began to emerge halfway through the glacier. We evaluated the situation even then, establishing that the risk was too great “. At the time, Zampati continues, a first attempt was made, starting to cover an area of 40 thousand square meters with sheets, which immediately proved their worth. validity. At the end of the summer, in fact, under the sheets that are removed, a layer of two meters, two and a half meters of ice remains. These encouraging results have prompted us to continue the project “.
14 years have passed since 2008, and the ‘rescue’ operation continues on a larger scale. “Today we are able to cover a much larger area, 110 thousand square meters – explains Vania Zampati -. This allows us, at the end of the summer, to have 130 thousand cubic meters of snow and ice, which represent the basis for the next ski season.
Therefore a very important resource for skiing, but, of course, also for the environment, because it is water that remains on the territory. In 2008 there was a real risk that the glacier would break in half, the sheets allowed us to keep it together, and therefore to maintain its skiability until today “.
Tonale, Presena glacier covered with geotextile sheets to reduce melting
However, the operation, although it provides a ‘breath of fresh air’ for the glacier, is far from definitive. “Of course we are aware that this is only an attempt to prolong the life of the glacier”, explain again from the Ponte di Legno Consortium. “Unfortunately we will not be able to save it: to do this we would need global policies on climate and the reduction of temperatures. This is a particularly hot year and we come from a winter without snowfall: these temperatures so high were never recorded in these altitudes, especially for such prolonged periods. Our glacier is in severe suffering like all glaciers in the Alps: it can be clearly seen both from the water that flows along the rocks, and from the difference that jumps to the eye between the surface covered by sheets and the one that remains uncovered, where the ice has completely melted “.
Source: Ansa
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