71) Brecha de Roland

Like many other glaciers in the Pyrenees, during the Little Ice Age, the Brecha de Rolando Glacier was characterised by its greater width than length. It formed a single unit with the lower step of the Casco Glacier, stretching more than 1.3 km horizontally from the base of Pico de Balzillac (2,978 m) to the eastern sector at the base of Pico del Casco (3,006 m). The entire sector covered an area of around 40 hectares. A century of almost uninterrupted melting has passed since the historical photographs showed ice reaching the dividing line between the two slopes, with the characteristic dune shape generated by the action of the wind.Until the early 1990s, it still displayed magnificent blue ice, which in a few years turned greyish, while the glacier ceased to be active and the ice disappeared from its former extent. In 2012, two icebergs were still visible, while most of the sector was quickly covered by debris. In 2022, the visible ice was practically non-existent and the subsidence caused by melting revealed the existence of black iceberg-shaped sectors. Its extent in 2024 is estimated to be no more than 0.2 ha.

Este aparato glaciar pertenece al siguiente macizo:

I) Gavarnie Massif

Aragón
12 glaciers

71) Brecha de Roland

Comparativa de imágenes

1990

2012

Comparison of 22 years (1990–2012).

The always busy Roland’s Breach Glacier in 1990. Compare with the following image. (Cover of the magazine Excursionisme, February 1991. Unió Excursionista de Catalunya).

Twenty-two years later, the same area as in the previous photograph in 2012, with the glacier covered in erosion material. (Jordi Camins).

1992

2012

20-year comparison (1992–2012)

In 1992, the route up to Roland’s Breach ran across the glacier. Several crevasses can be seen in the area uncovered by snow. Compare with the following image. (Jordi Camins).

The same area as in the previous image in 2012, 20 years later. In the centre of the image, the black icefall, not visible, is submerged in the eroded material. (Jordi Camins).

20-year comparison (1992–2012)

In 1992, the Roland’s Breach Glacier was losing its blue colour. Compare with the following photograph. (Jordi Camins).

In 2022, the same area as in the previous image, 20 years later. (Jordi Camins)

2012

2022

10-year comparison (2012–2022)

In 2012, the only visible fragment of the Helero de la Brecha de Roland. Compare with the following image. (Jordi Camins).

The same area as in the previous image in 2022, 10 years later. Only a small fragment of ice remains to remind us of the existence of the icefall, while the small blue lake takes over the landscape. (Jordi Camins).

Galería de imágenes

In 2017, on the left is the location of the Roland's Breach glacier (71), next to the legendary breach (7). At the bottom is the Serradets refuge at 2,587 m (18). On the right is the Taillón Glacier (72) with its three sections (1-2-3). The Balzillac Peak (8) and the False Breach (9). (Jordi Camins).

Probably at the end of the 19th century, on the left is the Casco Glacier (upper and lower), which at that time formed a single unit with the Brecha de Roland Glacier, whose width of more than 1.3 km made it the fifth largest in the Pyrenees. (Detail of postcard 258 ‘Les Hautes Pyrénées – Gavarnie – Fronton du Cirque – Breche de Roland (2,804 m) – Fausse Brèche et Taillon’ not visible in the detail).

In 1930, the Roland's Breach Glacier and its upper dune, which reached the watershed. See photograph 421. (Albert Oliveras – AFCEC).

Image from 2022, showing the area in the previous photograph, without the glacier. (Jordi Camins).

In 2022, sinkholes allow visitors to observe and enter the black ice cave, while just a few metres away, on the busy route to the Brecha de Roland, its existence is unknown. (Jordi Camins).