Die Entwicklung von „Risikolandschaften“: 100 Jahre Klimawandel und Bergsteigeraktivitäten im Lake Louise-Gebiet der kanadischen Rocky Mountains | Mixed-Methods-Ansatz, der statistische klimatologische Analysen mit halbstrukturierten Interviews mit Bergführern kombiniert

Research abstract:

>Climate change is contributing to the rapid warming of mountain environments, resulting in glacial retreat, diminished snowpacks, and permafrost thaw. Such rapid changes have transformed the riskscape of mountaineering routes, altering climbing conditions and increasing objective hazards. In response, this study used a mixed methods approach that combines statistical climatological analysis with archival content analysis and semi-structured interviews with mountain guides to explore the relationship between climate change, route conditions, hazards, and adaptations in the Abbot Pass area of Banff National Park (Canada). Results revealed that long-term climatic shifts contributed to change in climbing conditions and objective hazards across all routes, creating a typology of climate-driven route evolution based on the original route characteristics. Mountaineers adapted to such change by employing spatial/activity and temporal substitutions to mitigate risks and exploit emergent opportunities. However, the use of such strategies was influenced by demographic (i.e., age, years of experience) and socio-cultural factors (i.e., place attachment, risk tolerance) and limited by hard limits to adaptation. Given the projected trajectory of climate change, our findings highlight the potential inevitability of mountaineers encountering such limits, resulting in forced transformations and significant loss and damages. Therefore, it is imperative to examine both the economic and non-economic consequences of these shifts and evaluate the ability of mountaineers and tourism providers to navigate a significantly transformed climate future in mountainous areas. While focused on a Canadian context, the findings and methodologies developed herein are relevant to other mountain geographies, where climate change is rapidly transforming environments frequented by mountaineers and represents a call to action for more research in field of climate change, adaptation, and mountaineering.

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For those looking for more popular reporting on this topic, there’s an article available here:

[Century of climbers’ notes from alpine shelter offer glimpse of changing peaks | Climate change reflected in Abbot Hut’s summit register](https://www.cbc.ca/newsinteractives/features/old-notes-penned-at-bygone-alpine-hut-provide-glimpse-of-changing-peaks-beyond-that-famous-lake-louise-view)

>Hanly said this research shows the value mountain guides offer beyond the individual experiences they provide.
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>They are the eyes and ears of Canada’s alpine spaces, with insights and expertise that she said sometimes aren’t recognized.
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>Hanly said summit registers have provided something important. They have provided a tangible example of climate change that’s not difficult to understand, and not so big and broad that it overwhelms.
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>“When people say, oh, there is x amount of CO2 in the atmosphere, you can’t see it,” she said.
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>But Lake Louise? That you can see.
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>The turquoise waters and glacier-adorned ridges are something seen by millions every year. Hanly hopes the story behind the landscape and how it’s changing will be as impactful and inspiring as the scenery.

It’s good to see this combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches when looking at this complex issue. Hopefully approaches like these can help to contextualize some of the research for the public so that they can both understand and also internalize some of the findings.