https://altavianature.com/en/ Mountain, nature and environment news explained with context and sources. en © Altavia Fri, 23 Oct 2026 14:00:00 GMT https://altavianature.com/brand/logo-512.pnghttps://altavianature.com/ https://altavianature.com/en/news/banff-mountain-book-competition-2026-winners/ https://altavianature.com/en/news/banff-mountain-book-competition-2026-winners/ A journey on foot following a wolf, the life of a black bear, Alaska offline and the most spectacular bivouac huts in the Alps. Banff's book competition, one of the most prestigious in mountain literature, has its category winners. Fri, 23 Oct 2026 14:00:00 GMT News https://altavianature.com/en/news/gangapurna-west-japanese-climbers-found/ https://altavianature.com/en/news/gangapurna-west-japanese-climbers-found/ Hidesuke Taneishi and Tetsu Hashimoto were attempting the first ascent of Gangapurna West (7,140 m), next to the Annapurna massif. Their last contact was on 15 October. A helicopter and a drone made it possible to find them on the south face. Fri, 23 Oct 2026 13:20:00 GMT News https://altavianature.com/en/news/virunga-mountain-gorilla-birth/ https://altavianature.com/en/news/virunga-mountain-gorilla-birth/ The baby, a male, was born on 17 October to the female Ruzuzi. It is the Bageni family's fourth birth of the year and the park's seventeenth; Virunga is home to a quarter of the world's mountain gorillas. Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT News https://altavianature.com/en/news/el-nino-very-strong-2026/ https://altavianature.com/en/news/el-nino-very-strong-2026/ The equatorial Pacific is much warmer than normal and forecast centres point to a very strong, perhaps historic, El Niño. We explain what it is, what is expected and what it could mean for the snow season. Fri, 23 Oct 2026 11:30:00 GMT News https://altavianature.com/en/news/everest-west-ridge-russian-team/ https://altavianature.com/en/news/everest-west-ridge-russian-team/ Three Russian climbers are attempting one of Everest's hardest and least repeated routes this autumn. After two days of struggle above the Lho La, coughing, fatigue and harder terrain than expected have forced them back down to Base Camp. Fri, 23 Oct 2026 10:40:00 GMT News https://altavianature.com/en/news/svalbard-longyearbyen-thaw/ https://altavianature.com/en/news/svalbard-longyearbyen-thaw/ At 78° north, Svalbard's main town is living Arctic warming first-hand: tap water unfit to drink, homes made uninhabitable by thawing permafrost, avalanches and tour guides changing their routes. Fri, 23 Oct 2026 09:10:00 GMT News https://altavianature.com/en/news/jost-kobusch-winter-everest-solo/ https://altavianature.com/en/news/jost-kobusch-winter-everest-solo/ His best so far is 7,537 metres. This autumn he is acclimatising in the Annapurna region, wants to reach 8,000 m before winter and plans to start on Everest on 22 December. He puts his own chances at 20%. Fri, 23 Oct 2026 08:15:00 GMT News https://altavianature.com/en/news/nepal-glacier-flood-un-defining-moment/ https://altavianature.com/en/news/nepal-glacier-flood-un-defining-moment/ A wall of water more than 100 metres high swept through 60 kilometres of valley in seconds. Two months on, the UN's project services agency calls it one of the most destructive and deadliest climate-related disasters and urges rich countries to keep their promises. Fri, 23 Oct 2026 07:30:00 GMT News https://altavianature.com/en/news/swiss-glaciers-2026-loss/ https://altavianature.com/en/news/swiss-glaciers-2026-loss/ Little winter snow, heatwaves from May to September and the 0 °C isotherm above 4,000 metres for 76 days: the result is the second-worst year for Swiss glaciers since measurements began. Fri, 23 Oct 2026 06:45:00 GMT News https://altavianature.com/en/news/international-snow-leopard-day-2026/ https://altavianature.com/en/news/international-snow-leopard-day-2026/ Today is International Snow Leopard Day, created to protect the great cat of Asia's mountains. We look at how many are left, what threatens them and what works to protect them. Fri, 23 Oct 2026 06:00:00 GMT News https://altavianature.com/en/news/swiss-glaciers-record-loss/ https://altavianature.com/en/news/swiss-glaciers-record-loss/ Measurement campaigns by the Swiss glacier monitoring network document the biggest losses since records began. We explain what the numbers mean and why they matter beyond Switzerland. Wed, 21 Oct 2026 06:30:00 GMT News https://altavianature.com/en/news/blatten-birch-glacier-collapse/ https://altavianature.com/en/news/blatten-birch-glacier-collapse/ In May 2025 a huge flow of ice, rock and mud almost completely destroyed the village of Blatten, in the Lötschental. A preventive evacuation avoided a far greater tragedy. We look at what happened and why it is a warning for the whole of the Alps. Tue, 20 Oct 2026 07:15:00 GMT News https://altavianature.com/en/news/everest-new-rules-nepal/ https://altavianature.com/en/news/everest-new-rules-nepal/ The permit for the south side rose from 11,000 to 15,000 dollars, climbers must carry down their own waste and experience requirements are being discussed. We review the measures trying to bring order to the world's most famous mountain. Mon, 19 Oct 2026 06:00:00 GMT News https://altavianature.com/en/news/iceland-reykjanes-eruptions/ https://altavianature.com/en/news/iceland-reykjanes-eruptions/ After eight centuries of calm, the Reykjanes peninsula has been erupting since 2021 and, above all, since December 2023 near Grindavík. We explain the phenomenon and how to travel safely. Sun, 18 Oct 2026 09:00:00 GMT News https://altavianature.com/en/news/wolf-protection-europe-downgraded/ https://altavianature.com/en/news/wolf-protection-europe-downgraded/ Europe has lowered the wolf's level of protection after years of debate between farmers and conservationists. Does that mean it can be hunted? What happens in Spain? The answers, without slogans. Fri, 16 Oct 2026 06:45:00 GMT News https://altavianature.com/en/news/iberian-lynx-census/ https://altavianature.com/en/news/iberian-lynx-census/ At the start of the century fewer than a hundred were left. Today the Iberian lynx numbers more than 2,400 and is no longer listed as Endangered on the Red List. This is how it was achieved and what could still go wrong. Thu, 15 Oct 2026 07:00:00 GMT News https://altavianature.com/en/news/2024-first-year-above-1-5-degrees/ https://altavianature.com/en/news/2024-first-year-above-1-5-degrees/ The European Copernicus service ranked 2024 as the warmest year on record and the first to exceed the 1.5 °C threshold. Have we already broken the Paris Agreement? Not exactly. Here is why. Tue, 13 Oct 2026 07:30:00 GMT News https://altavianature.com/en/news/venezuela-loses-its-last-glacier/ https://altavianature.com/en/news/venezuela-loses-its-last-glacier/ The Sierra Nevada de Mérida once had at least six glaciers. By 2024 the last one —Humboldt— had shrunk into a small ice field. Venezuela thus became the first country in modern times to lose all its glaciers. Sat, 10 Oct 2026 08:00:00 GMT News https://altavianature.com/en/news/matterhorn-border-glacier-melt/ https://altavianature.com/en/news/matterhorn-border-glacier-melt/ When a border follows the watershed across a glacier, melting can move it. That is what has happened around the Matterhorn, where Switzerland and Italy have had to adjust their shared boundary. Thu, 08 Oct 2026 08:20:00 GMT News https://altavianature.com/en/news/eu-nature-restoration-law-explained/ https://altavianature.com/en/news/eu-nature-restoration-law-explained/ Adopted in 2024 after a fiercely contested process, the Nature Restoration Regulation requires EU countries to bring degraded ecosystems back. What it says, what it does not say and when its effects will be seen. Tue, 06 Oct 2026 07:00:00 GMT News