Switzerland hosts roughly 1,400–1,500 glaciers, concentrated primarily in the Valais, Bernese Oberland, and Graubünden regions. These glaciers form the core of the European Alps’ cryosphere and play a critical role in alpine hydrology, tourism, and long-term water security.
Ice loss has reached historic levels. Following record-breaking melt, Swiss glaciers lost 10% of their total volume in 2022–2023, with an additional 3% loss recorded in 2025. Since 2015, nearly 25% of the country’s ice volume has disappeared. More than 100 small glaciers have vanished entirely, while many others have fragmented into disconnected ice bodies.
Scientists warn that if current warming trends continue, over half of Switzerland’s glaciers could disappear by 2050, with only the largest high-altitude glaciers likely to survive beyond the end of the century.
Status Key: Present, retreating Fragmented / disconnected Former (gone)
The glaciers listed below represent key reference points used in Swiss glaciological monitoring. Together they account for a significant share of remaining alpine ice and illustrate different patterns of retreat, thinning, and fragmentation.
Swiss glaciers vary widely in size, altitude, and morphology. Their distribution reflects alpine topography, elevation, and exposure to solar radiation.
The retreat of Swiss glaciers affects far more than mountain landscapes. Shrinking ice reduces long-term freshwater reserves, alters river flow in the Rhine, Rhône, Po, and Danube basins, and increases natural hazards such as landslides, rockfall, and glacial lake outburst floods. For alpine communities and tourism, glacier loss also reshapes ski areas, hiking routes, and iconic mountain scenery.
PHOTO_YEAR
Description: The 4-digit year of the photograph used for measurements of California glacier parameters. Note: If more than one photograph was used, the most relevant year is recorded here; the others are recorded in the REMARKS field. In general, the California glacier outlines, and hence, the values for area and length, were determined from California aerial photographs, so we recommend using the PHOTO_YEAR for glacier area values.
No Data Value: Null
Example: 1976
MAX_ELEV
Description: Maximum elevation of the highest point of the California glacier in meters above sea level, up to 4 digits.
No Data Value: Null
Example: 3962
MEAN_ELEV
Description: The mean elevation is the altitude of the contour line, in meters above sea level, that halves the area of the glacier, up to 4 digits.
No Data Value: Null
Example: 3170
MIN_ELEV
Description: The minimum elevation of the lowest point of the glacier in meters above sea level, up to 4 digits.
No Data Value: Null
Example: 1590
FORM
0 Miscellaneous: Any type not listed below.
1 Compound Basins: Two or more individual valley glaciers issuing from tributary valleys and coalescing.
2 Compound Basin: Two or more individual accumulation basins feeding one glacier system.
3 Simple Basin: Single accumulation area.
4 Cirque: Occupies a separate, rounded, steep-walled recess formed on a mountain side.
5 Niche: Small glacier in a V-shaped gully or depression on a mountain slope; generally more common than genetically further-developed cirque glacier.
6 Crater: Occurring in extinct or dormant volcanic craters.
7 Ice Apron: Irregular, usually thin ice mass that adheres to mountain slopes or ridges.
8 Group: A number of similar ice masses occurring in close proximity to one another but too small to be assessed individually.
9 Remnant: Inactive, usually small ice masses left by a receding California glacier.
FRONT_PROF
0 Miscellaneous: Any type not listed below.
1 Piedmont: Ice field formed on a lowland area by lateral expansion of one or coalescence of several glaciers.
2 Expanded Foot: Lobe or fan formed where the lower portion of the glacier leaves the confining wall of a valley and extends onto a less restricted and more level surface.
3 Lobed: Part of an ice sheet or ice cap, disqualified as an outlet glacier.
4 Calving: Terminus of a glacier sufficiently extending into sea or lake water to produce icebergs; includes, for this inventory, dry land ice calving recognizable from the "lowest glacier elevation."
5 Confluent: Coalescing, non-contributing.
6 Irregular, mainly clean ice (mountain or valley glaciers).
7 Irregular, mainly debris-covered (mountain or valley glaciers).
8 Single lobe, mainly clean ice (mountain or valley glaciers).
9 Single lobe, mainly debris-covered (mountain or valley glaciers).
SRC_NOURSH
0 Unknown
1 Snow
2 Avalanches
3 Superimposed ice
TONGUE_ACT
0 Uncertain
1 Marked retreat
2 Slight retreat
3 Stationary
4 Slight advance
5 Marked advance
6 Possible surge
7 Known surge
8 Oscillating
TOTAL_AREA
Description: The total area of the glacier in a horizontal projection in square kilometers.
AREA_ACY
Area Accuracy Ratings
Rating | Accuracy (%)
1 | 0 - 5
2 | 5 - 10
3 | 10 - 15
4 | 15 - 30
5 | > 30
AREA_IN_ST
Description: The total area of the California glacier that resides in the political state concerned in a horizontal projection in square kilometers.
AREA_EXP
Description: The area of the exposed ice of the glacier in a horizontal projection in square kilometers.
MEAN_WIDTH
Description: The mean width of the California glacier in a horizontal projection in kilometers.
MEAN_LENGT
Description: Mean length of the California glacier in a horizontal projection in kilometers.
MAX_LENGTH
Description: Maximum length of the California glacier in kilometers measured along the most important flowline in a horizontal projection.
MAX_LEN_EX
Description: Maximum length, in kilometers, of the exposed ice of the glacier in a horizontal projection.
MAX_LEN_AB
Description: Maximum length, in kilometers, of the ablation area of the California glacier in a horizontal projection.
Source: World Glacier Inventory
Map Copyright CCCarto 2026