Telling the (devastating) effects of global warming through images. This is the goal of the project “On the Trail of the Glaciers”, launched in 2009 by photographer Fabiano Ventura and which from 20 April will go to discover what remains of the glaciers of three of the six highest mountains in the world, in the Himalayas. The photographic-scientific project, which also makes use of the contribution of glaciological scientists, has already carried out four missions - K2 in 2009, Caucasus in 2011, Alaska in 2013 and Patagonia in 2016 - whose photographs, which compare the state of the glaciers with respect to photographic archive of previous missions, are available on the site www.sulletracedeighiacciai.com and in various traveling exhibitions.
"In mid-April, before leaving for the Himalayas, we will be on display in Rome, on the occasion of the National Geographic Science Festival which will be held at the Auditorium Parco della Musica", he tells FIRSTonline Fabiano Ventura, 42 years old from Rome who started this job almost 25 years ago, following a passion he had developed since high school: that for astronomy and astrophotography. "From there then came the passion for the mountains, since I had to go to altitude to find clear skies where I could observe and photograph the stars". From the stars to the glaciers, the step is short: however, it would be better to talk about former glaciers, given that many of the photographic comparisons are literally impressive, with glaciers retreating several kilometers within a few decades or even disappearing, as in the case of Upsala, in Patagonia (pictured).
"The project - explains Ventura, interviewed by FIRSTonline during an event at theEnvipark of Turin – carries out glaciological measurements and new photographic shots that reproduce the same geographical point in the same period of the year as those made by the photographers-explorers of the late 800s and early 900s. The retreat of the glaciers highlighted by the photographic comparisons thus becomes a case study, to become aware of the consequences of climatic evolution. The purpose of the project is precisely to raise public awareness on the issues of climate change”.
Let's start from the future, or rather from the next shipment. Where will you go and when?
“We will leave on April 20 and return on June 6. In this month and a half we will visit the glaciers of three of the six highest mountains in the world: the first is Kangchenjunga, which with its 8586 meters of altitude is the third "eight-thousander" on the planet, where we will follow in the footsteps of the 1899 expedition of 'English mountaineer Douglas William Freshfield, whose photos I recovered at the Royal Geographical Society in London. I consulted, looking at them one by one, as many as 15.000 photos of that expedition. Kangchenjunga is on the border between India and Nepal, so we will fly to Kathmandu, after which it will take 8 days of trekking to reach the base camp. Then we will return to Kathmandu and in a second part of the expedition we will visit Everest and Cho Oyu on the border between Nepal and China, which are respectively the first and sixth highest peaks in the world. Right on the Everest glacier we will touch the highest point of the expedition, at 6.500 metres”.
Who will be part of this expedition?
“It will basically be me and the filmmaker Federico Santini, who is from Grosseto and is my age. Then a freelance journalist will join us, while on site there will be a local team made up of about fifty porters and mountain guides, first Nepalese and then Tibetan. We have chosen to be few compared to previous missions, because this is a particularly demanding expedition. On the other hand, there are many porters because we have a lot to transport, not only materials but also food: we have to be autonomous for a month and a half, which is no small thing".
Before leaving, he studied those glaciers through 15.000 archival photos, he told us. How many counts instead of making?
“Fifteen thousand are the ones I consulted in London, then choosing 600 to compare. But I also drew from the Sella Foundation archive, where there are those taken by the Italian photographer Vittorio Sella, who has also visited those places. There I selected about thirty, of which I plan to replicate about five. While of the others, it would already be a success to replicate 10-15. It is not the quantity of photos that counts, but the quality, precision and meaning, the message to be communicated”.
You are not a little afraid to face such a demanding expedition, at over 6.000 meters above sea level?
“There is always fear, it is a human instinct. Already at 5.000 meters there is half the oxygen we have at sea level, you risk your life even in normal weather conditions, such as those that await us because the season is certainly favorable and will ensure that temperatures should not drop below -15/-20 degrees, at night. The greatest risk is that of the classic altitude sickness, which can cause exhaustion, dizziness, insomnia, but also cerebral and pulmonary oedema".
Do you need specific training and nutrition to deal with these risks?
“Diet must be as healthy and regular as possible, like the one commonly recommended for everyone. In the last period, however, it is necessary to assume a fatter diet, rich in carbohydrates. However, there is no specific diet. Physical preparation is instead essential, especially for breath and legs. Almost every morning I wake up at 6.30 to go running in Rome, and to get even better prepared I go to the mountains around here. It's not the altitude that counts but the difference in altitude: you have to run uphill and downhill in order to do, for example, 2.000 meters in altitude up and down in a single workout. For example, climbing from 1.000 to 2.000 meters above sea level and then descending, always running”.
How will you communicate from there and how will you feed yourself?
“Thanks to the collaboration with Intermatica we will be equipped with satellite phones and all the necessary equipment to keep in touch with the world. We will be able to both receive phone calls and be connected to the Internet, and we will publish constant updates on our social channels, especially Facebook and Instagram. We will have a generator and also small solar panels to power all the material. As for the food, we will eat what the three Nepalese cooks who accompany us on the mission will cook for us".
What will you miss most about life in the city?
“My two daughters, aged 7 and 9. I won't miss the rest, in fact I gladly do without it: the period of time is limited and every now and then it's good to disconnect from the world, stop living with a cell phone in hand and spend time in remote areas where there is absolutely nothing. It's true, we will still be connected, also because we have communication commitments, but only in brief moments of the day".
You have already visited several glaciers around the world: where is the melting more evident?
“In Alaska and Patagonia, where, however, factors other than global warming contribute. Those glaciers rest on the sea, so factors such as the salinity of the water, the composition of the seabed, the marine or lake currents come into play”.
And in Italy, in the Alps, where are we?
“The Alps will be the subject of a specific expedition in 2020, which will close the ten-year cycle of the “On the trail of the glaciers” project. From what I've seen so far the effects are already very evident and will be more and more. I'm thinking of the Adamello Brenta, the Marmolada, but above all the Mer de Glace, the glacier located on the north side of the Mont Blanc massif, on the border between Italy and France”.
How much does a long and demanding expedition like the one you are about to undertake in the Himalaya cost and how is it financed?
“This will cost a total of 150.000 euros all inclusive, from air travel to all logistics, to the team of local collaborators. For materials, we have many technical sponsors, to whom we give visibility, while the main sponsor for some years now is Enel Green Power, with whom we are already studying a "green" mission for the last stage in the Alps, in two years' time. The communication partner is instead National Geographic”.
