Gries Glacier

Gries glacier from the northeast, from Nufenenpass

The Gries Glacier is a valley glacier south of the Rhone Valley in the east top of the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It has a length of approximately 5 km and covers an area of about 5 sq. km.

His starting point takes the Gries glacier on the eastern flank of the Blinnenhorns to around 3,300 m It flows northeast, flanked to the north of Merezenbachschijen ( 3'182 m above sea level. M. ), Ritz horns ( 3'047 m above sea level. M. ) and Fülhorn (2,864 m above sea level. M. ). The southern boundary form the Rothorn ( 3'289 m above sea level. M. ) and the Bättelmatthorn ( 3'044 m above sea level. M. ), over which runs the border between Italy and Switzerland. The glacier terminates above the Gries lake. Until about 2001, the glacier reached down into the dammed at around 2,400 m Griessee. Drainage of the Gries glacier is the Ägine which opens in the Goms at Ulrichen in the Rhone.

The Gries glacier had during the Little Ice Age from the 16th to the 19th century, a significantly greater volume than today. During this time he also overlapped the 2479 meter Griespass and handed southward into Italy's Valle del Gries with a short tongue.