Ried Glacier

Ried glacier with Nadelgrat and Ulrich Horn ( left)

The Ried glacier is a valley glacier on the north side of the Mischabelgruppe, in the Pennine Alps in the canton of Valais, Switzerland. The surface of the glacier was 7.89 km ² in 1995. It was in the year 2010 about 5.3 km long, since 1973, its length decreased by slightly more than a kilometer.

His highest starting point takes the Ried glacier on the northern flank of the fissured hanging Nadelhorn ( 4'327 m above sea level. M. ), a major peak of Mischabelgruppe, to over 4,200 m. About a steep slope of the glacier flows northward and spreads out at an altitude between 3,400 m and 3,600 m in a wide opening, bordered by Dirruhorn ( 4'035 m above sea level. M. ) to the west, Ulrich Horn ( 3'925 m above sea level. M. ) in the southwest and the Balfrin ( 3'796 m above sea level. M. ) in the east. Subsequently, the Ried glacier moves to the northwest in a valley ( 3'178 m above sea level. M. ), to the east by Färichhorn ( 3'292 m above sea level. M. ) is bordered on the west by Breithorn. The glacier tongue is thereby quickly narrow and currently ends at around 2,100 m.

The glacier drains into the Ried stream that flows near Sankt Niklaus in the Matter Vispa. From the Ried stream water is diverted by means of several irrigation channels, which is used for the irrigation of meadows in the municipality of Bern.

In his High Stadium during the Little Ice Age in the mid- 19th century, the Ried glacier ended below the present timberline. Since 1895, he has lost about 1.2 km in length; alone from 2008 to 2009, he lost 500 meters in a year.

On a ledge east of the Ried glacier is at 2,886 m above sea level. M. Bordierhütte of the Swiss Alpine Club SAC. They can only be reached by a glacier crossing and serves as a starting point for climbs in the northern Mischabel range.