The Forni Glacier

Access

Drive to Santa Caterina Valfurva and continue along the Valle dei Forni road to the car park at the Rifugio dei Forni, checking in advance that it is open and that the road is passable. From the car park, follow the track leading to the Rifugio Cesare Branca, which takes about 1 hour to reach with a 320m climb, or take the Centenario Glaciological Trail, which crosses the moraine and proglacial streams via footbridges and suspension bridges. Observe the glacier from the signposted paths without stepping onto the glacial surface. Access the western, central or eastern sectors exclusively via mountaineering routes, using specialist equipment and possessing the necessary skills to deal with crevasses, seracs and subglacial streams.

Introduction

The Forni Glacier is situated in the upper Valfurva, in the Lombardy section of the Stelvio National Park, on the northern flank of the Ortles-Cevedale massif. Formed at the head of the Forni Valley, it collects snowfall from the slopes between Punta San Matteo, Pizzo Tresero, Palon de la Mare and Monte Vioz. It was once one of Italy’s largest valley glaciers, but progressive fragmentation has divided the glacier into western, central and eastern sectors. The glacier can be seen from the routes linking the Rifugio dei Forni to the Rifugio Cesare Branca and from the Centenary Glaciological Trail.

Description

The Forni Glacier occupies a composite basin facing predominantly north. Historically, it comprised three catchment basins that converged into a single valley tongue: the western sector beneath Punta San Matteo and Pizzo Tresero, the central sector at the foot of Palon de la Mare, and the eastern sector towards Monte Vioz. The central serac field and the confluences between the various flows constituted the main morphological features of the glacier system.

Until 2016, the glacier retained sufficient surface continuity to be considered a single body. In the years that followed, the thinning of the ice and the widening of the rocky windows severed the connections between the basins, resulting in the separation into the western, central and eastern Forni glaciers. The traditional name continues to be used to refer to the entire complex, whilst the classification as a single valley glacier now primarily describes its historical configuration.

Since the early 20th century, the main tongue has retreated by almost 3 km. The lateral moraines, rock outcrops and surfaces recently freed from ice make it possible to reconstruct the glacier’s previous phases of expansion. Surveys carried out in 2024 placed the glacier fronts at different altitudes: approximately 2,515 m for the central sector, 2,730 m for the western sector and 2,835 m for the eastern sector. In the same year, residual snow cover was patchy even in the basins situated between 3,000 and 3,300 metres.

The Centenary Glaciological Trail, created in 1995 to mark the centenary of the Italian Glaciological Committee, traverses the proglacial landscape and documents the evolution of the glacier system through moraines, deposits, meltwater streams and polished rocks. The waters flowing from the glacier feed the Frodolfo stream, a tributary of the Adda.

Information

CGI Land Registry number: 507.1
Current name: Western, Central and Eastern Forni Glaciers
Historical type: valley glacier
Shape: composite basin
Feed: direct and from avalanches
Predominant aspect: north
Maximum elevation of the basin: 3,678 m
Maximum elevation of the glacier: 3,639 m
Minimum elevations recorded in 2024: 2,515 m in the central sector; 2,730 m in the western sector; 2,835 m in the eastern sector
Area reported by the CGI: 10.71 km²
Maximum length reported: 3,135 m
Average slope: 20°
Catchment area: Frodolfo–Adda–Po
State of development: significant regression and fragmentation

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