Payer's Glaciers

 Payer's Glaciers...or what's left of them

 

Julius Payer was an Austrian army officer in the 1860s who fell in love with the glaciers of South Tyrol. Together with his local guide Josef Pingerra he made hundreds of first ascents in the area of the Ortler and Monte Cevedale mountains (Vinschgau), mapping the area as he went. Payer especially was fascinated by the large masses of snow and ice they encountered and he became a master of climbing techniques in ice. Later on, when he got older, he would travel to the polar area and become somewhat of a distinguished polar explorer. Now, as we know, the glaciers are disappearing and melting fast; so I decided to see for myself what romance in these mountains of ice and snow is left.