The Mont Blanc Glacier – a Morning in Golden Light
In summer 2023 we made a family trip to Mont Blanc, and at sunrise I was able to photograph the glacier from a bird’s-eye view.
Camping at Mont Blanc
Our trip began with the tent at the foot of Mont Blanc. On the first morning lovely paths led us through forests, along clear streams and with views of snow-covered peaks. After a few hours we reached Chamonix, where we refuelled before moving on.
Aerial shots at sunrise
The highlight came with the first morning light, when I sent the drone up over the glacier. The sun laid golden light on the ice and traced cracks and crevasses, details you can’t see from the ground.
The glacier in the morning light
These aerial shots at sunrise show the glacier as I would never have seen it from the ground. At just over 4,800 metres, Mont Blanc is the highest mountain in the Alps and lies right on the border between France and Italy; Chamonix at its foot hosted the first Winter Olympics in 1924.
The first sun on the peaks, the glacier flowing down into the valley below – morning at Mont Blanc.A steep ridge with patches of snow, the dark conifer forest below in the morning haze.The edge of the ice below a rocky peak, the forest in front still in shadow.Broad and furrowed, the ice pushes between the rock walls.Where the ice meets the rock wall, the scree begins.Wide crevasses between flat slabs of ice.Meltwater draws a dark, winding line through snow and scree.Steep ice pillars rise out of the broken surface.Winding crevasses and a pale ice rib – patterns the glacier draws itself.A rocky peak watches over the fissured flank of ice.A bundle of curved crevasses runs across the ice.A steep wall of ice breaks off above a smooth expanse of snow.Crevasses fan out across the blocks of ice.Dark islands of rubble float on the cracked ice.Ice pillars in front, a snowy summit glowing in the sun behind.Rough ice blocks beneath a shaded drop – the golden light traces every edge.Angular blocks in the hard side light of early morning.Pale ice beside the dark rock flank.Ice against the rock flank and rough blocks, side by side.Fissured ice in front of the snowy massif of Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in the Alps.Rubble on the ice, the blocks casting long morning shadows.A field of crevasses climbs towards the snowy peaks of Mont Blanc.
