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National audience; Le retrait glaciaire et les processus gravitaires associés, caractéristiques de l’évolution des milieux de haute montagne induite par le réchauffement climatique, affectent de plus en plus fortement les itinéraires d’alpinisme dont les sentiers d’accès aux refuges de haute altitude. Alors que ces changements n’ont quasiment fait l’objet d’aucune étude, cette recherche tente de caractériser et d’expliquer l’évolution sur un peu plus d’un siècle des accès aux cinq refuges situés autour de la Mer de Glace (massif du Mont Blanc), le plus grand glacier français (L = 11,5 km, S = 30 km2), haut lieu du tourisme alpin depuis 1741 et berceau de l’alpinisme. Ce travail repose sur une méthodologie en 3 étapes : 1) récolte et analyse de cartes, de topo-guides et de photographies, 2) conduite d’entretiens semi-directifs et 3) analyse de modèles numériques de terrain à haute résolution acquis par balayage laser terrestre. Si l’essentiel du xxe siècle ne présente pas d’évolution marquée, la perte d’épaisseur du glacier et la dégradation associée des moraines latérales ont donné lieu à de nombreuses modifications des itinéraires à partir des années 1990. Malgré ces adaptations, leur dangerosité s’accroit et la nécessité de les équiper est sans cesse plus importante (633 m d’échelles actuellement), remettant en question l’accessibilité future des refuges.

National audience; Le retrait glaciaire et les processus gravitaires associés, caractéristiques de l’évolution des milieux de haute montagne induite par le réchauffement climatique, affectent de plus en plus fortement les itinéraires d’alpinisme dont les sentiers d’accès aux refuges de haute altitude. Alors que ces changements n’ont quasiment fait l’objet d’aucune étude, cette recherche tente de caractériser et d’expliquer l’évolution sur un peu plus d’un siècle des accès aux cinq refuges situés autour de la Mer de Glace (massif du Mont Blanc), le plus grand glacier français (L = 11,5 km, S = 30 km2), haut lieu du tourisme alpin depuis 1741 et berceau de l’alpinisme. Ce travail repose sur une méthodologie en 3 étapes : 1) récolte et analyse de cartes, de topo-guides et de photographies, 2) conduite d’entretiens semi-directifs et 3) analyse de modèles numériques de terrain à haute résolution acquis par balayage laser terrestre. Si l’essentiel du xxe siècle ne présente pas d’évolution marquée, la perte d’épaisseur du glacier et la dégradation associée des moraines latérales ont donné lieu à de nombreuses modifications des itinéraires à partir des années 1990. Malgré ces adaptations, leur dangerosité s’accroit et la nécessité de les équiper est sans cesse plus importante (633 m d’échelles actuellement), remettant en question l’accessibilité future des refuges.

National audience; Rockfalls and rock avalanches are active processes in the Mont Blanc massif, with infrastructure and alpinists at risk. Thanks to a network of observers (hut keepers, mountain guides, alpinists) set up in 2007 present rockfalls are well surveyed and documented. Rockfall frequency over the past 150 years has been studied by comparison of historical photographs, showing that it strongly increased during the three last decades, especially during hot periods like the summer of 2003 and 2015, due to permafrost degradation driven by the climate change. In order to decipher the possible relationship between rockfall occurrence and the warmest periods of the Lateglacial and the Holocene, we start to study the morphodynamics of some selected high-elevated (>3000 m a.s.l.) rockwalls of the massif on a long timescale. Contrary to low altitude, deglaciated sites where study of large rockfall deposits allows to quantify frequency and magnitude of the process, rockfalls that detached from high-elevated rockwalls are no more noticeable as debris were absorbed and evacuated by the glaciers. Therefore, our study focuses on the rockfall scars. Their 10Be dating gives us the rock surface exposure age from present to far beyond the Last Glacial Maximum, interpreted as the rockfall ages. TCN dating of rockfalls has been carried out at the Aiguille du Midi in 2007 (Boehlert et al., 2008), and three other sites in the Mont Blanc massif in 2011 (Gallach et al., submitted). Here we present a new data set of rockfall dating carried out in 2015 that improves the 2007 and 2011 data. Furthermore, a relationship between the colour of the Mont Blanc granite and its exposure age has been shown: fresh rock surface is light grey (e.g. in recent rockfall scars) whereas weathered rock surface is in the range grey to orange/red: the redder a rock surface, the older its age. Here, reflectance spectroscopy is used to quantify the granite surface colour. Böhlert, R., Gruber, S., Egli, M., Maisch, M., Brandová, D., Haeberli, W., Ivy-Ochs, S., Christl, M., Kubik, P.W., Deline, P. (2008). Comparison of exposure ages and spectral propierties of rock surfaces in steep, high alpine rock walls of Aiguille du Midi, France. Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Permafrost, 143-148. Gallach, X. et al. (submitted). Timing of rockfalls in the Mont Blanc massif (western Alps). Evidences from surface exposure dating with cosmogenic 10Be. Landslides.

National audience

International audience; Due to ongoing global warming, high alpine environments are affected by significant changes, such as glacial retreat and permafrost warming, which can trigger mass movements in rock slopes or superficial deposits. These processes generate a risk of direct destabilisation for high mountain infrastructures (huts, cable cars, etc.). To help prevent such risks, an inventory of all the high mountain infrastructures in the French Alps was carried out using a Geographic Information System. This combined several data layers, including the Alpine Permafrost Index Map and glacier inventories since the end of the Little Ice Age. 1,769 infrastructures were identified in areas probably characterised by permafrost and/or possibly affected by glacier shrinkage. An index of destabilisation risk was constructed to identify and rank infrastructures at risk. This theoretical risk index includes a characterisation of hazards and a diagnosis of vulnerability. 10 % of the infrastructures were characterised by a high risk of destabilisation.; Dans le contexte du changement climatique actuel, les milieux de haute montagne sont soumis à de profonds bouleversements tels que la fonte des glaciers ou la dégradation du permafrost, à l’origine de mouvements de versant au sein des parois rocheuses comme des formations superficielles. Ces processus impliquent des risques directs de déstabilisation pour les infrastructures (refuges, remontées mécaniques, etc.). Dans un but de prévention de ces risques, un recensement des infrastructures de haute montagne dans les Alpes françaises a été réalisé à l’aide d’un Système d’Information Géographique constitué de plusieurs couches de données dont des cartes de la répartition potentielle du permafrost et de l’extension des glaciers depuis la fin du Petit Âge Glaciaire. 1769 infrastructures ont été identifiées dans des secteurs à permafrost probable et/ou éventuellement affectés par le retrait glaciaire. Un indice de risque a été construit afin d’identifier et classer les infrastructures potentiellement à risque. Il inclut une caractérisation de l’aléa et un diagnostic de la vulnérabilité. 10 % des infrastructures sont caractérisées par un risque fort de déstabilisation.

The objective of this paper is to analyze the actors' interactions around this tourism diversification process based on outdoor sports, and in particular trail running, in the Pays of Allevard. To understand the tourism diversification process, it is necessary to analyze the way the local actors use the sport, take ownership of it, and transform it according to their interests, in particular to make it a tourism resource.

International audience

Poster; In the current context of imbalance of geosystems in connection with the rising air temperature for several decades,high mountain environments are especially affected by the shrinkage of glaciers and the permafrost degradationwhich can trigger slope movements in the rock slopes (rockfall, rock avalanches) or in superficial deposits (slides,rock glacier rupture, thermokarst). These processes generate a risk of direct destabilization for high mountain infrastructure(huts, cable-cars...) in addition to indirect risks for people and infrastructure located on the path ofmoving rock masses. We here focus on the direct risk of infrastructure destabilization due to permafrost degradationand/or glacier shrinkage in the French Alps.To help preventing these risks, an inventory of all the infrastructure was carried out with a GIS using different datalayers among which the Alpine Permafrost Index Map and inventories of the French Alps glaciers in 2006-2009,1967-1971 and at the end of the Little Ice Age. 1769 infrastructures have been identified in areas likely characterizedby permafrost and/or possibly affected by glacier shrinkage.An index of risk of destabilization has been built to identify and to rank infrastructure at risk. This theoretical riskindex includes a characterization of hazards and a diagnosis of the vulnerability. The value of hazard is dependenton passive factors (topography, lithology, geomorphological context...) and on so-considered active factors(thermal state of the permafrost, and changing constraints on slopes related to glacier shrinkage). The diagnosis ofvulnerability has meanwhile been established by combining the level of potential damage to the exposed elementswith their operational and financial values. The combination of hazard and vulnerability determines a degree ofrisk of infrastructure destabilization (from low to very high). Field work and several inventories of infrastructuredamages were used to validate it.The application of this risk index for infrastructure in the French Alps indicates 999 infrastructures potentiallyat risk, among 0.2 % are characterized by a very high risk and 4.4 % by a high risk of destabilization. The riskunequally affects massifs: 55 % of the infrastructure at risk are in the Vanoise massif (Savoie) due to the largenumber of high-altitude ski resorts in this area. The Mont-Blanc massif (Haute-Savoie) includes only 6.5 % of theinfrastructure at risk. Furthermore, 71 % of the exposed infrastructure are ski-lifts.

Poster; The Pilatte hut is located at 2572 m a.s.l. at Saint-Christophe-en-Oisans (south of the Ecrins Massif, France), ata 3-hours-walk from La Bérarde hamlet. Its capacity is 120 beds for hikers and climbers who are engaged in theascent of Les Bans (3669 m a.s.l.).Built on a rocky ledge on the right side of the Pilatte Glacier (A = 2.64 km2; L = 2.6 km), it currently dominatesthe glacier by about 150 m. This relief results from the retreat of the glacier since the end of the Little Ice Age, asthe till around the hut was deposited during this stage. The glacier has lost about 1.8 km in length during the sameperiod.A first wooden hut was built in 1925 and presently serves as a winter refuge. In 1954, the growth of mountainactivities led to the construction of a larger hut made of cemented stones. An extension to the west made ofreinforced concrete was built in 1994. But in the late 1980s, severe damages to the 1954 part of the building werealready recognized: vertical cracks lining the north and south facades, ,subsidence (c. 10 cm downstream) of theground floor, cracked interior walls.

International audience

International audience; Rockfall is one of the main natural hazards in high mountain regions and its frequency is growing, especially since two decades. Collapses at high elevation are with an increasing certainty assumed to be a consequence of the climate change through the warming permafrost. In the Mont Blanc massif, data on present rockfalls (occurrence time when possible, accurate location, topographical and geological settings, volume, weather and snow conditions) were acquired for 2003 and for the period 2007-2014 thanks to a satellite image of the massif and a network of observers in the central part of the massif, respectively. The study of the 533 so-documented rockfalls shows a strong correlation at the year scale between air temperature and rockfall. Along with this data acquisition, a statistical model of the Mean Annual Rock Surface Temperature (MARST) for the 1961-1990 period has been implemented on a 4-m-resolution DEM of the Mont Blanc massif. The model runs with Potential Incoming Solar radiation (PISR) calculated with GIS tools and air temperature parameters computed from Chamonix Météo France records. We cross here the data on rockfalls with the permafrost distribution model to show that: (i) rockfall occurs mainly over modeled negative MARST (context of permafrost); (ii) simulated warm permafrost areas (> -2°C) are the most affected by instabilities; (iii) as the 1961-1990 period is supposed to be representative of the conditions at depth that are not affected by the climate warming during the two last decades, the latest results are mainly valuable for rockfalls related to pluri-decadal signal; and (iv) the higher (close to 0°C) the MARST, the deeper the detachment (possibly related to the deepening of the permafrost active layer). These results and field observations confirm that warming permafrost corresponds to the main required configuration for rockfall triggering at high elevation. In addition, we show that rockfalls for which ice observed in their scar indicates the presence of permafrost can be used to validate the permafrost distribution model.

National audience

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International audience

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International audience

National audience

Despite the rising interest in mountain permafrost due to climatic changes and a noticed increase of registered rockfall events in the European Alps and other mountain ranges, little is known about transient thermal conditions in the detachment areas of rockfalls. Temperature conditions prior to the rockfall events of 144 past events in the European Alps were modelled with a physically based ground temperature model. To minimise the impact that uncertainty has on interpretations, only relative values were used, that is, percentiles obtained from cumulative distribution functions of the modelled ground surface temperatures from the beginning of the meteorological measurement series up to the event dates. Our results suggest that small and mid‐sized rockfalls (volumes up to 100 000 m3) from high elevation occurred mainly during short‐term periods of unusually high temperatures. This was neither found to be a result of the seasonal distribution (most analysed events in higher elevations occurred from July to September) nor of the longer‐term temporal distribution (most analysed events occurred after 2000) only. Plausible explanations are either a destabilisation related to advective thaw or failure due to stress redistribution caused by large temperature variations. Large deep‐seated rock slope failures (≥100 000 m3) in high elevation occurred all year round.

International audience; Rock mass movements are dominant in the morphodynamics of high Alpine rock slopes and are at the origin of significant risks for people who attend these areas and for infrastructures that are built on (e.g. huts, cable cars). These risks are increasing because of permafrost degradation and glacier retreat as consequences of the global warming. These two factors may affect slope stability by changing mechanical properties of the interstitial ice and modifying the mechanical constraints in these rock slopes. The monitoring of rock slopes is thus an essential element for risk management. Our study focuses on two particularly active areas of the Western Alps: the lower Arête des Cosmiques (3613 m a.s.l., Mont Blanc massif, France) on which is located the very popular Refuge des Cosmiques, and the Col des Gentianes (2894 m a.s.l., Valais, Switzerland) where is located a cable car station. Discussed on the basis of geophysical and glaciological data, the evolutions monitored by terrestrial laser scanning probably result from the combination between permafrost activity/degradation and glacier shrinkage.

The steep rockwalls of the Mont Blanc massif have been affected by an increase in rockfall activity in the last decades. Permafrost degradation is suggested as the most likely triggering factor. To better understand geomorphic processes we investigate permafrost distribution and address questions on its pattern in steep alpine bedrock. We use GIS-modeling to simulate Mean Annual Rock Surface Temperature (MARST) distribution. Rock temperature measurements including three 10-m-deep borehole monitoring at the Aiguille du Midi (AdM, 3842 m a.s.l) serve to estimate the temperature offset (i.e. temperature difference between rock surface and depth of negligible inter-annual temperature varibility). The estimation of the lower extent of permafrost distribution is derived from a combination of both approaches and hypotheses on permafrost occurrence are evaluated with Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) measurements. The MARST model indicates that the 0 °C isotherm extends down to 2600 m a.s.l in the most shaded faces and rises up to 3800 m in the most sun-exposed areas. According to recent literature and the AdM borehole thermal profiles, we postulate that permafrost could extends down below MARST reaching up to 3°C due to temperature offset processes. ERT measurements performed along 160-m-long profiles at six different sites which the top are located from 3360 m a.s.l to 2760 m a.s.l and the MARST range from 3°C are the first of this kind. Five of sites are located in the granite area making them directly comparable. They all show high resistivity values at depth (>200 k) interpreted as permafrost bodies. Lower resistivity values (< 90 k ) are found either above the high resistivity bodies and interpreted as thawed active layer, or below MARST warmer than 2-3°C and interpreted as non-perenially frozen rock. Two sites were measured in autumn 2012 and autumn 2013 allowing for time-lapse investigation which demonstrates the change in resistivity in repeated measurements. These preliminary results could confirm that steep alpine bedrock permafrost exists below surface tempera- ture reaching up to 3 °C. A temperature-resistivity calibration will be performed in a freezing laboratory at the Technical University of Munich to better assess ERT results and their interpretation in terms of permafrost occurrence and interannual changes.

International audience; Due to global warming, high alpine environments are affected by significant changes such as glacial retreat and permafrost degradation. This degradation is thought to be one of the main factors for rock slope instabilities in high mountain areas. Warming permafrost could lead to various risks, including the risk of destabilization of infrastructure (e.g. huts, cable cars, ski-lifts) built on permafrost. In order to assess these risks, an inventory of infrastructure located in permafrost areas in the French Alps has been implemented through a GIS using different layers including a map of potential permafrost distribution. Meanwhile, an index of the risk of infrastructure destabilization has been built to identify and categorize the exposed infrastructure. This risk index allowed 752 infrastructure potentially at risk to be identified among the 1,641 infrastructure located in permafrost areas. Five percent are characterized by a very high risk of destabilization.

International audience