70) Casco

The main body of the Casco icefall is located about 350 m below the summit of the same name (3,006 m), slightly to the east of its vertical. It occupies the steps of the old Rolando Brecha Glacier, although at a slightly lower altitude, as this platform loses height towards the east. During the Little Ice Age, it reached a length of 375 m in two steps. The main fragment is located in the lower step, while two glaciers precariously remain in the upper step. Its head width was 1,360 metres during the Little Ice Age, forming a single unit with the Brecha de Rolando glacier. This made it the fifth largest in the Pyrenees in terms of head width.
In the decade from 1975 to 1985, it was a dynamic suspended glacier with considerable ice thickness and crevasses. Its powerful front gave rise to seracs, which were unable to settle on any of the lower steps to regenerate the glacier, given the verticality of the terrain.
Currently classified as a helero, in 2022 the lower fragment retained a considerable thickness of ice under the cover of erosion debris, which was minimised during the hot summer of 2023. In 2024, a helero remained covered by snow. On the upper step, both heleros are in a practically residual state. The whole area covers a total of 0.9 ha.

Este aparato glaciar pertenece al siguiente macizo:

I) Gavarnie Massif

Aragón
12 glaciers

Galería de imágenes

In 2007, the main body of what was then the Casco Glacier (70), on the same terrace as the Roland's Breach Glacier (71). During the Little Ice Age, they formed a single glacier, with a head width of 1,360 metres. Two ice fields (1 and 2) remain on the upper step. Torre and Espalda de Marboré (5), Casco peak (6) and Brecha de Roland (7). (Jordi Camins).

The suspended glacier of Le Casque, with its two sections, at the turn of the 19th century. (Postcard number 7 - Chemin de la Brèche de Roland – Le Casque et le Col du Taillon – LL).

Between 1975 and 1985, a powerful and cracked Casco Glacier (70), which shed its seracs into the void, and the current ice fields (1 and 2). The then Roland Breach Glacier (71) and the position of the South Taillón AG (73) on the Ordesa slope. Casco Peak (6), Roland Breach (7), Balzillac Peak (8) and False Breach (9). (Jordi Camins).

In the centre of the image, the Casco Glacier in 1992, seen from the Espalda de Marboré. (Jordi Camins).

In 2017, the Casco Glacier (70) and the two ice fields on the upper step (1 and 2). The numbers have been included because the camouflage effect, together with the autumnal darkness of the north face, makes it impossible to locate the main body. Casco peaks (6) and Espalda de Marboré (5). In the background, the Ordesa slope. (Jordi Camins).

In 2012, the main body of the Casco Glacier showed very weak dynamics. (Jordi Camins).

At the bottom of the image, parallel to the ice tongue, the thickest section covered with erosion material in 2022. (Jordi Camins).

The Casco ice field, which remained covered in snow in 2024. The ice beneath the layer of debris (previous image) succumbed to the unfavourable summer of 2023. (Jordi Camins).