A looming rock collapse threatens a Swiss village as thawing permafrost destabilizes the Alps

A rock formation called Spitze Stei looms over the Swiss village of Kandersteg, threatening a landslide that scientists say could rival the one that destroyed the nearby village of Blatten last year. Researchers, including a climate risk professor at the University of Geneva, attribute the instability to thawing permafrost that once acted as glue holding mountain slopes together.

The unstable section is estimated at 15 to 20 million cubic meters, and experts say a full collapse is possible, though a gradual breakdown is considered more likely. Authorities are monitoring the site and have prepared evacuation plans for the village's 1,300 residents.

Local residents describe wariness rather than panic, distinguishing their situation from Blatten's, while a Greenpeace Switzerland expert warns that climate change may eventually make some Alpine valleys too costly or dangerous to keep inhabiting.

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