On the north slope of Monte Rosa flow some of the most impressive glaciers in the Alps. The Gorner Glacier in the foreground has recently thinned to the point of being detached from its accumulation area to the left. Instead, the lower glacier tongue is now fed by ice flowing from Colle Gnifetti in the distance and via Grenz Glacier in the centre part of the photo. Moraine ridges left by this complex system during the Little Ice Age now tower high above the ice surface.