From the Canadian Rockies to the Andes, from Kilimanjaro to the Caucasus. 11 Voices, 11 Stories
The UIAA’s Storytelling Campaign for the 2025 UN Year of Glaciers’ Preservation
In celebration of the UN International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation 2025, the International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation (UIAA) launched an evocative eleven-part series that brought glaciers – and their urgent climate stories – into global focus.
The campaign has run exclusively on the UIAA’s Facebook and Instagram channels. In parallel with the series, the UIAA produced a dedicated Mountain Voices podcast episode titled Glaciers: What Future? which was released on 21 March, the newly dedicated World Day for Glaciers. The episode featured contributions from a number of experts who also provided stories for the UIAA’s glacier campaign.
The Campaign
The series spanned five continents, uniting the voices of scientists, geographers, photographers, artists, mountain guides, climbers and mountaineers, in a sweeping portrait of glaciers as symbols of both fragility and resilience. Each contributor offered a deeply personal and place-based perspective and what the loss of glaciers means for communities, ecosystems, economies, cultures and indeed climbing and mountaineering as activities.
The series opened with Canadian researcher and photographer Mary Sanseverino, UIAA Mountain Protection Commission Vice President, who uses historic and contemporary images to track dramatic glacial retreat across Western Canada and notably the legendary Athabasca Glacier. Her message is clear: “Glaciers tell stories of change—we must honour them, advocate for them, and celebrate their existence.”
From New Zealand, guide Tom Harris reflected on the rapid retreat of Fox Glacier and its economic ripple effects. “What happens when walking access disappears, and entire towns rely on ice for their identity and income?” he asks. Harris also offered insights both in the case study and in the Mountain Voices podcast episode, on how guiding as a profession has had to adapt.
Dr. Jeannette McGill, an experienced mountaineer and chair of the UIAA Mountain Protection Award committee of the UIAA Mountain Protection Commission, recalled the sobering account of Thame Village, which was devastated by a glacial lake outburst flood just weeks before her visit in 2024. Her message: “We need urgent planning to protect Himalayan communities”.
Filmmaker Craig Leeson’s globe-spanning documentary The Last Glaciers features breathtaking footage from 13 countries and presents a stark forecast for the future of our planet’s frozen reserves. Leeson is also a guest on the Mountain Voices podcast.
The series also taps into collective memory and creative resilience. Ecuadorian biologist and photographer Adrián Soria combines archival photos, literature, and community engagement in his Collective Memory of Carihuairazo project, capturing the final moments of a disappearing Andean glacier.
In the Swiss Alps, IFMGA guide Gjert Grødal recounts a near-tragic expedition on the Brenay Glacier highlighting the ever-fragile nature of glaciers, while UIAA Safety Commission member James Marc Beverly reminds us of the joy that glaciers bring – recounting a playful day of “ice bouldering” on Alaska’s Mendenhall Glacier, one of the most accessible in North America.
A case study produced by the UN Environment Programme contributes a data-driven perspective from the Caucasus, where glacial melt has already led to a 20–26% drop in river flow across the region. “Water insecurity is no longer a distant issue—it’s a current crisis,” their report warns.
The UIAA campaign also explores how arts and activism intersect. Ecuador’s Verticálica collective stages performances inside immersive glacier installations to bring awareness to people unable to visit these remote landscapes.
The final two case studies came from two of the world’s most iconic mountains. Jenny Paterson, General Secretary of the Mountain Club of South Africa, highlights the rapid loss of Kilimanjaro’s tropical glaciers and its direct impact on agriculture and water supply.
And to conclude, French mountaineer and geographer Emmanuel Salim, another member of the UIAA Mountain Protection Commission and MPA Assessment Team, offers a haunting reflection on the Mer de Glace near Chamonix in the Mont Blanc Range. Once revered for its beauty, it now draws “last-chance tourists” who come to witness its retreat before it disappears completely.
While the campaign in many senses offers a compelling visual journey, it is a call to action. Glaciers are vanishing before our eyes, but their plight and stories can also serve as catalysts for change. The UIAA invites all its member associations, all mountain lovers, educators, policy-makers, and the global public to engage with this series and help contribute to the preservation of glaciers.
“Glaciers are among the most definitive indicators of a changing planet, serving as enduring relics of the last Ice Age and now providing some of the most compelling evidence of global warming. Within the climbing and mountaineering community, glaciers represent an unparalleled manifestation of the aesthetic and spiritual values we associate with mountainous landscapes. They are both the arena for our physical pursuits and the setting for profound personal and collective reflection. The cryosphere constitutes an essential and irreplaceable element of Earth’s life-support systems. The Year of Glacier Preservation stands as a global reminder of the critical role glaciers have played — and continue to play — in shaping our environment, culture, and future.” –
Fernando Iglesias, IYGP Chair of the UIAA Mountain Protection Commission
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