Oberer Grindelwaldgletscher

IceIce lost since 1850This glacier

Past extents come from the Swiss Glacier Inventories of 1850, 1931, 1973 and 2016. Future extents are illustrative: each glacier’s projected area (OGGM, median of CMIP6 climate models) is removed from its lowest ice upward. About the scenarios.

Inventory 8.33km² Area in 2016 · ±0% compared with 2016

Area 20168.33km²24th largest

Elevation1,448–3,737mmedian 3,044 m

Length4.5kmfaces west

Area since 1850−18%10.12 km² in 1850

Tongue since 1879−823m109 measurements

Thinning 1986–2023−24maverage surface lowering

Ice left in 210016%of 2020 volume, SSP2-4.5

Oberer Grindelwaldgletscher is the 24th-largest glacier in Switzerland, covering 8.33 km² in the canton of Bern. Its ice spans 1,448 to 3,737 m and faces west. Its meltwater drains to the Rhine and on to the North Sea. In 1850, at the end of the Little Ice Age, it covered 10.12 km²; by 2016 it had lost 18% of that area. Its tongue has been measured 109 times since 1879. In total it has retreated 823 m, about 5.7 m a year. Between 1986 and 2023 its surface dropped by 24 m on average. With strong climate protection (SSP1-2.6), about 42% of its 2020 ice would remain in 2100. With very high emissions (SSP5-8.5) it would be gone around 2083. Its meltwater peaked around 2019.

Pictures

Then and now

Around 1890–1900. Photochrom print, Library of Congress. Photochrom Print Collection · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Oberer Grindelwaldgletscher in 2003. Falk2 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Future

What remains in 2100

SSP1-2.6 · low emissions42%59% left in 2050

SSP2-4.5 · intermediate emissions16%55% left in 2050

SSP3-7.0 · high emissions2%56% left in 2050

SSP5-8.5 · very high emissionsGoneIce gone around 2083

SSP1-2.6SSP2-4.5SSP3-7.0SSP5-8.5

Ice volume as a share of 2020, median of 14 climate models; shaded: middle two-thirds of models. OGGM v1.6.

Meltwater

Million m³ of water per year, 11-year mean

Water leaving the glacier area each year: ice melt, snowmelt and rain. It rises while the glacier melts faster, then falls as the ice runs out: “peak water”.

Measured

The record

Length change since 1879

Position of the glacier tongue, measured in the field almost every year. Hover for each measurement.

GLAMOS Swiss Glacier Length Change, release 2025.

Thinning since 1986

Average change in surface height, from comparing elevation models made from maps, aerial images and laser scans.

GLAMOS Swiss Glacier Volume Change, release 2025.

Profile

Facts

Area over time

Past areas are the ice body this glacier belonged to at the time. Projections: OGGM median, SSP2-4.5.

SGI id: A54l-04
Canton: Bern
River: Rhine → North Sea
Basin: Upper Aare
Location: 46.6090° N, 8.1310° E · swisstopo map
Elevation: 1,448–3,737 m, median 3,044 m
Slope, aspect: 23°, west
Debris cover: 0.07 km² (1% of the area)
Inventory image: 2015
Ice volume (model): ≈ 0.448 km³ in 2020 (OGGM)
RGI ids: RGI60-11.01270, RGI60-11.01298, RGI60-11.01334, RGI60-11.01351, RGI60-11.01356, RGI60-11.01360

Nearby

More in the Upper Aare basin

All glaciers in this basin →

Sources

Linsbauer et al. (2021). The new Swiss Glacier Inventory SGI2016. Frontiers in Earth Science 9. doi.org/10.3389/feart.2021.704189
Mannerfelt et al. (2022). Halving of Swiss glacier volume since 1931 observed from terrestrial image photogrammetry. The Cryosphere 16. doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-3249-2022
GLAMOS – Glacier Monitoring Switzerland. www.glamos.ch
Zekollari et al. (2024). Twenty-first century global glacier evolution under CMIP6 scenarios and the role of glacier-specific observations. The Cryosphere 18 (OGGM v1.6 projections). tc.copernicus.org/articles/18/5045/2024/

Relief: swisstopo swissALTIRegio. 1850 and 1973 outlines: Maisch et al. (2000), Müller et al. (1976), Paul (2004). Length, mass balance and volume change: GLAMOS releases 2025. All sources and methods.

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