On the frontline' Alpine village tackles threat of melting glacier

The villagers of Pralognan-la-Vanoise in the French Alps know the perils posed by the mountains that encircle them. Avalanches, rockfalls, mudslides, sudden crevices and torrents of water are within the living memory of most, and every day the climate emergency throws up new dangers.

- Kim Willsher

Less than a year ago a lake formed by a melting glacier was discovered high above Pralognan that experts feared could inundate the village with more than 13,000 gallons (59,100 liters) of icy water. Bernard Vion, 66, an Alpine guide who has watched the expanse of water grow and the mountain change over his lifetime, said the region was on the frontline of the climate crisis but laughed when asked if he was worried. "I live just underneath the rocks and I sleep easy in my bed now as I did before," he said. "People who live in the mountains have a resilience to natural dangers."

Natural hazards in the Alps are not, however, an idle threat.

The Swiss village of Blatten was wiped out by a rock and ice avalanche in May, and last year a lake swollen by heavy rainfall caused torrential flooding in La Bérarde in the Isère.

An engineering operation is under way to prevent such a scenario in Pralognan. Three workers have been helicoptered to the Grand Marchet glacier at an altitude of 2,900 meters (9,500 feet) to gouge a narrow, 6-meter deep, 100-meter long "overflow channel" in the ice. This will funnel water from the lake into the cascades that feed the streams of crystalline blue water flowing through Pralognan.