LES DIABLERETS, Switzerland:An ice cave which forms naturally on a high-altitude glacier in the Swiss Alps became accessible on Thursday, to the delight of visitors who came to marvel at the huge blue vault of the "ice cathedral".
Varying in size and shape from year to year, the cave has a rounded ceiling made of thick ice about 5 metres (yards) high, and is about 20 metres long.
The site can be reached on foot in 15 minutes from the chairlift at Glacier 3000 above the resort of Les Diablerets, but at your own risk, organisers said.
"It's the first time we indicate it and open it officially.
The last years ... we had kind of an ice cave but it was different, it was more steep. And this year it looks like an ice cathedral, so it's really beautiful," Bernhard Tschannen, CEO of Glacier 3000, told Reuters inside the cave.
This year the cave's interior is quite flat, making access easier, he said.
The natural cave, also known as "the Mill", forms through a siphon effect. Each spring and summer, the cavity fills with water from the snow melt, forming a lake. In autumn, the plug disappears and the water drains, leaving the cave.
"It's magnificent, but even that isn't the right word. I've never seen anything like it. Almost as it's not of this world in fact. It's magnificent, I can only recommend it if you have the chance to go," Helen Tromp, a Dutch woman living nearby said after visiting. Brice Rozes, touring the site on his day off, said: "It's very impressive. The vault is incredible. Standing beneath it, you can just imagine the weight above. It's beautiful."
Reuters
Fri Dec 11 2020
People stand in the "Mill", a 20m long natural ice cave created by melted water accumulated during the summer and by a siphon effect at the Glacier 3000 ski resort in Les Diablerets, Switzerland. - REUTERS
'Masa untuk hentikan penderitaan' - Ketua PBB rayu keamanan
Antonio Guterres membuat rayuan untuk keamanan menjelang ulang tahun pertama konflik di Gaza minggu depan.
Larian berpakaian tidak senonoh: Tiga lelaki ditahan bantu siasatan
Dua lelaki warga asing dan seorang warga tempatan berusia antara 39 hingga 70 tahun ditahan di sebuah hotel di Kota Tinggi.
Wanita Palestin mengamuk di WTKL mohon maaf, tertekan fikir anak di Gaza
Aminah berkata, perbuatan di luar kawalan itu berlaku disebabkan rasa tertekan memikirkan keadaaan anaknya yang masih berada di Gaza.
Mangsa banjir di Perak terus meningkat, Selangor menurun
Jumlah mangsa banjir yang ditempatkan di PPS di Perak terus meningkat pagi ini manakala jumlah mangsa di Selangor menunjukkan penurunan.
Letupan baharu menggegarkan Beirut
Memetik laporan Associated Press, rejim Zionis turut menyerang kem pelarian Palestin jauh di utara buat kali pertama ketika ia menyasarkan kedua-dua pejuang Hezbollah dan Hamas.
Pelabur makin yakin, Malaysia disaran tingkatkan keperluan RE
Keperluan tenaga boleh baharu (RE) di negara ini semakin meningkat seiring keyakinan pelabur asing khususnya untuk mewujudkan pusat data, kata Timbalan Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof.
Dua minggu hilang, nasib Orang Asli Zuzina masih misteri
Pelbagai pihak masih mencari wanita orang Asli Zuzina Abine yang hilang selepas keluar rumah sejak 20 September lalu.
Ringgit dijangka berbanding dolar AS minggu depan
Ringgit dijangka kekal pada paras 4.21 hingga 4.22 berbanding dolar AS minggu depan, tetapi dengan kecenderungan meningkat terhadap dolar AS selepas data senarai gaji bukan ladang (NFP) Amerika Syarikat (AS) bagi September meningkat mendadak kepada 254,000 pekerjaan.
[TERKINI] Enam rakyat Malaysia selamat tiba dari Lubnan pagi ini
Kementerian Luar Negeri mengesahkan seramai enam orang rakyat Malaysia daripada sebuah keluarga selamat tiba di Lapangan Terbang Antarabangsa Kuala Lumpur (KLIA) dari Lubnan pada pagi ini (6 Oktober 2024).
Konvoi motosikal Seru For Gaza, cerminan sokongan sesama saudara
Liputan Wartawan Astro AWANI, Faida Rahim di acara konvoi motosikal Seru For Gaza di Cafe Rosco sebagai cerminan sokongan kepada saudara sesama Islam di Gaza, yang sudah setahun diperangi keganasan Israel.