Slope Instabilities in High-Mountain Rock Walls. Recent Events on the Monte Rosa East Face (Macugnaga, NW Italy)

The Monte Rosa east face (Macugnaga, Italian Alps) is one of the highest flanks in the Alps. Steep hanging glaciers and permafrost cover large parts of the wall. Since the end of the Little Ice Age (about 1850) the Monte Rosa east face is undergoing a progressive reduction of its ice cover; moreover new instability phenomena related to permafrost degradation and rapid deglaciation have been occurring since over a decade ago. The progressive destabilization of high-mountain faces is a consequence of many factors, such as topography, geological and structural conditions, intense freeze-thaw activity and oversteepened slopes from glacial erosion.