60) Corredor Noroeste de Monte Perdido

The old glacier of the Northwest Corridor of Monte Perdido was located inside the corridor through which the normal route of ascent to Monte Perdido runs via Góriz, once past the Helado Lake (2,985 m). Its ancient meltwaters, which now form the lake, are the source of the Gavarnie Waterfall, which drops more than 400 metres on the Occitan slope after an underground course.This glacier must have covered an area of 4.6 hectares during the Little Ice Age, reaching a length of 510 metres and probably extending to its frontal moraine on the shores of Lago Helado. In photographs from the early 20th century, the glacier appears to be quite thick. It remained in good condition as a glacier until the mid-1980s. Already in a clear process of deterioration, in 1989 it fragmented into two units, which by 1995 were considered residual. In 2011, the last remnants of ice were observed in the upper section, which disappeared in 2012.

Este aparato glaciar pertenece al siguiente macizo:

H) Monte Perdido Massif

Aragón
9 glaciers

Galería de imágenes

In 2008, snowfields occupied the two positions formerly occupied by the old glacier of the North-West Corridor of Mount Perdu (60), after its fragmentation in 1989. The frontal moraine (12) near the Frozen Lake (14). The south-west snowfield of Mount Perdu (61), below the summit (1) (Jordi Camins).

The glacier of the Northwest Corridor of Monte Perdido in 1920. Note the considerable thickness of the ice (Postcard: Revers du Cirque de Gavarnie).

In 2019, snowfields at the former location of the Helero del Corredor Noroeste (North-West Corridor Snowfield) on Monte Perdido, and the frontal moraine near Lago Helado (Frozen Lake). On the right, the Helero Suroeste (South-West Snowfield) on Monte Perdido (Enric Casellas).

In the centre, the ice field of the Northwest Corridor of Monte Perdido in the early 1970s. On the left, the Upper Glacier of Monte Perdido. On the right, the Southwest ice field of Monte Perdido (Panoramas of the Spanish Pyrenees - Editorial Pirineo).

Monte Perdido with its Upper Glacier on the left. In the centre, the Northwest Corridor icefall, in good condition in 1984. On the right, the Southwest icefall (Jordi Camins).