Photo: © Matias Puebla
Pascal Egli, Cimalp team athlete, Swiss mountaineer and glaciologist, is about to launch PEAK, an unprecedented citizen science project aimed at documenting the state of Himalayan glaciers with the help of local mountain guides. A field-based commitment that combines his twin passions for high-altitude mountaineering and environmental research.
PEAK, a bridge between mountaineering and scientific research
The Himalayan ranges are home to more than 15,000 glaciers, yet fewer than 50 of them are subject to regular scientific monitoring. In the Ladakh region, only 4 out of 1,400 glaciers are currently being tracked, leaving an immense knowledge gap regarding the evolution of these water reserves, which are vital for local populations.
It is this gap that Pascal Egli aims to fill with PEAK, a project led alongside Karuna Sah, a climate change practitioner originally from Uttarakhand, a mountainous region of India, now based in Ladakh and herself from a family of mountain guides. The idea: to draw on the guides and mountaineers who already travel these routes year-round to collect straightforward field data — such as photographs of measurement markers — and thereby produce reliable indicators of snow accumulation and snowmelt.
A method validated in the Alps before deployment in the Himalayas
Photo: © Matias Puebla
Before being tested at altitude in the Himalayas, the method will first be calibrated in the Swiss Alps, in partnership with GLAMOS, the reference network for glacier monitoring in Switzerland. Field measurements collected by guides will be compared against data from professional glaciologists, to ensure the protocol's reliability before its application in Ladakh.
Once validated, the method will be deployed on heavily frequented mountain routes in Ladakh, including glaciers already monitored by Indian research institutes as well as glaciers that have never previously been documented. Local guides will be trained directly in the field alongside scientists, with the aim of sustaining this data collection long after the pilot project has ended.
Pascal Egli: a life between the summits and research
An associate professor of geography at NTNU University in Trondheim, Norway, Pascal Egli has also been a mountain athlete for over 26 years, practising mountain running, mountaineering and skiing up to altitudes of over 7,000 metres, and is an instructor for the Swiss Alpine Club. This dual profile — combining field practice with scientific expertise — is precisely what makes PEAK possible: designing a measurement protocol simple enough to be carried out by non-scientists, without compromising the rigour of the data.
A project that resonates deeply with Cimalp's values — an outdoor brand committed to supporting athletes who don't simply climb mountains, but invest themselves in understanding and protecting them.
A supported project with a future
PEAK already has the backing of the Sustainable Mountain Alliance (Switzerland) and the Kilian Jornet Foundation, and could ultimately serve as a model for citizen glacier science extended to other mountain ranges in Central Asia or the Andes. A concrete first step towards a better understanding of the state of the world's rooftop glaciers, driven by those who traverse them every day.
This on-the-ground commitment echoes Cimalp's approach, which has placed respect for the mountains at the heart of every decision for over 60 years. We will follow Pascal Egli throughout his expedition and update this article as his field discoveries unfold.
