Three Monte Rosa mountain guides share how they are experiencing the changes taking place in the mountains. Through adaptation, observation and respect, a reflection emerges that goes beyond climate and speaks about our relationship with the alpine environment.
In recent years, talking about the mountains has almost inevitably meant talking about climate change.
Retreating glaciers. Higher temperatures. Seasons that seem to behave differently from what we had become used to observing.
It is a real issue. There would be little point in pretending otherwise.
Yet, listening to three mountain guides who spend much of their lives on Monte Rosa reveals a less obvious perspective.
Ioris Turini (born in 1965), Andrea Greggio (born in 1986) and Teodoro Bizzocchi (born in 1982) observe the same slopes, the same glaciers and the same mountain huts. Their perspectives are different, but their words share a common thread: the mountain continues to change, as it always has. The task of those who spend time in the mountains is not to stop time, but to learn how to read what lies in front of them.
The Changes They See Every Day
For Andrea Greggio, the most obvious sign is the increasingly high freezing level during the season.
Teodoro Bizzocchi, on the other hand, speaks about the loss of a certain regularity. Not so much an absolute change, but an increasingly sudden alternation of the seasons. Even in winter, it can no longer be taken for granted that the basal snow layer, which for decades characterised many off-piste routes, will be present.
Ioris Turini, however, offers a completely different answer.
When asked about the most noticeable change he has observed on Monte Rosa, he does not mention the climate.
He mentions people. “The number of enthusiasts, visitors and tourists.”
Three different answers that describe a complex reality. The mountain changes, but so does the way people experience it.
The Mountain Is Not a Laboratory, It Is a Living Environment
Discussions about glaciers often become heated.
Yet neither Andrea nor Ioris describe change as something sudden or unexpected. Andrea points out that glaciers have always been environments in constant transformation.
“It is up to us to assess the risks and critical points every single day.”
For a mountain guide, the real challenge is not looking for evidence to support a theory. It is observing what is actually there and making sensible decisions.
Teodoro also avoids dramatic interpretations. The episode that struck him most was seeing rain fall twice at 4,000 metres during summer thunderstorms. A concrete image that says more than many charts ever could.
The Real Challenge Is Rarely the Mountain Itself
One answer appears repeatedly, in different forms, throughout the interviews.
When deciding whether a climb is feasible, the most difficult variable to assess is not the mountain.
It is the people.
For Andrea, timing and the ability to adapt to the conditions of the day are crucial. For Teodoro, the biggest uncertainty concerns the physical and technical abilities of clients. For Ioris, the preparation of the individual remains the most important factor of all.
This is an interesting point.
People looking at the mountains from afar often assume everything depends on weather and conditions. Those who live in the mountains every day know that the real difference is almost always made by people.
Adapting Without Losing the Ability to Observe
If there is one word that emerges strongly from Andrea Greggio’s answers, it is adaptation.
Adapting to conditions. Adapting to change. Adapting to problems by finding solutions.
Alongside adaptation, however, another word appears, particularly in Teodoro’s reflections: observation.
In his view, climate change has had at least one positive effect.
It has encouraged many people to deepen their understanding of nature, increasing awareness and knowledge.
Yet there is also an increasingly evident obstacle.
“Nature needs to be observed, but there is no time.”
We live faster and faster lives.
The mountains still require attention, patience and the ability to notice details.
More Accessible, Yet Harder to Read?
Modern mountaineering offers opportunities that previous generations could only dream of.
Better equipment. Easier access to information. More accurate weather forecasts. A much wider outdoor culture.
Yet this progress also brings contradictions.
Andrea observes that many people now rely on social media for confirmation.
“He did it, so I can do it too.”
According to him, we risk losing an essential skill: the ability to interpret mountain conditions independently.
Ioris goes even further. In his view, most people who spend time in the mountains today are not really practising mountaineering. There is nothing wrong with that.
The problem arises when the two things become confused.
The mountain is not a performance to be replicated.
It is an environment to be understood.
A Mountain That Continues to Inspire
Perhaps the most interesting part of the interviews comes when the guides talk about why they continue to do this work.
Ioris says that his role is to help people develop respect and awareness, challenging common misconceptions.
Andrea speaks about the dreams of the people he accompanies.
“Every ascent is different because every person is different.”
A summit that may seem ordinary to one person can represent the dream of a lifetime for someone else.
Teodoro, meanwhile, identifies a motivation that has inspired generations of mountaineers:
“The curiosity to see what lies beyond the ridge.”
Three different answers.
Three different ways of looking at the mountains.
And perhaps three different ways of looking at the future.
We Asked How They Imagine Monte Rosa in Ten Years’ Time
None of the three imagine apocalyptic scenarios.
Andrea talks about adaptation. Teodoro believes that ten years is too short a period to expect radical changes.
Ioris, with his characteristic humour, dismisses the question with a disarming reply:
“I won’t be here.”
Yet behind their differences lies a shared conviction.
The mountain will continue to change.
As it always has.
The real question concerns us.
Our ability to observe it.
To understand it.
To respect it.
Perhaps, in the end, the most interesting question is not how much the mountain will change.
The mountain will change. It always has and it always will.
The real question is how we choose to experience it.
The words of Ioris Turini, Andrea Greggio and Teodoro Bizzocchi reveal three different perspectives, but they all point in the same direction: observing, understanding and adapting.
There is no nostalgia for a lost mountain. Nor is there a fatalistic vision.
Instead, there is respect for an environment that demands attention, the ability to read conditions and a willingness to constantly question our assumptions.
Perhaps this is exactly what makes the mountains so relevant today.
In a world that moves ever faster, they continue to remind us that some things require time: time to observe, time to learn, time to understand when to go and when to stop, and time to look beyond the next ridge.
That is where mountaineering continues to take shape, now as in the past: in a living relationship with change, in the ability to read the terrain, and in the desire to discover what lies ahead.
And You?
How do you perceive change in the mountains?
The answers from Andrea Greggio, Ioris Turini and Teodoro Bizzocchi show that there is no single way of looking at Monte Rosa. Some notice changing seasons, some notice changing people, and others continue to be guided by curiosity.
If you spend time in the mountains, we would love to hear your perspective.
Have you noticed changes in recent years? What do you think is truly important for experiencing the mountains with awareness and respect?
