Three well-known B.C. glaciers could disappear in a matter of decades, according to research from Simon Fraser University (SFU).
Chloé Monty is currently an SFU master’s student in glaciology. She researched the decline of three prominent glaciers at Whistler and Blackcomb: Whistler Glacier, Horstman Glacier, and Blackcomb Glacier — all glaciers that date back about 8,000 years.
“As someone who’s been coming to ski in Whistler since I was 12, and I coach skiing there now, those are some of the first glaciers that I knew about and was interested in,” she said.
Monty looked at aerial and satellite imagery from 1973 to 2024 to track the glacier melt over the past 50 years, and used a model to predict when they would completely disappear.
An aerial image of Whistler Glacier on Sept. 4, 2024. The dark blue lines are the outline of the glacier in 2024; the turquoise lines are the outline of the glacier in 1973. (Province of British Columbia)
In an SFU release, she said that her research was “shocking.”
Whistler Glacier has shrunk by 95 per cent, Horstman Glacier by 75 per cent, and Blackcomb Glacier by 60 per cent.
Since 1948, B.C.’s average annual temperature has increased by about 2°C, or about 0.26°C per decade, Monty told Daily Hive.
The biggest contributor to these glaciers melting so rapidly is human-caused climate change, caused by emitting greenhouse gases.
But in Western Canada, many glaciers are dealing with surface darkening from wildfire ash, causing them to absorb more radiation and melt faster.
The well-known glaciers at Whistler Blackcomb are also smaller and at a lower elevation than many others, so Monty said they are among the first to “fully disappear.”
“As temperatures are rising, the snow line and the elevation at which there’s a freezing level is moving up the mountains basically, so those at lower elevations are at higher risk because of that,” she said.
An aerial image of Horstman and Blackcomb glaciers, taken on Sept. 4, 2024. The dark blue lines are the 2024 outline of the glaciers; the turquoise lines are the outline in 1973. (2024 Planet Labs PBC)
What is the impact of the melting glaciers?
Over time, Monty said that as the ice melted, it caused rock falls around the ridges of the glaciers — something that is expected to continue.
Further, the melting glaciers are changing the landscape, which is especially pertinent to a ski resort. Monty said that ski runs and bowl terrain have been getting steeper.
“A lot of the entrances have changed, so they have become a lot steeper or even cliffs, and you have to jump over them instead of a gentle roll like they used to be.”
She added that adaptation, not only mitigation, is necessary. This is something that Whistler Blackcomb is already doing by replacing their showcase T-bar with a chairlift.
“But it’s really about using the landscape differently. We can try, for example, to use geotextile blankets and things like that to slow the melt. But at this point, we need to find ways to use the landscape in a different way if we’re going to continue going to these areas.”
‘Call to action’
Monty said that this knowledge is a “call to action.”
“First of all, saying to people, ‘Go see your local glaciers,'” she said. “Glaciers are a symbol of climate change. It’s very visual.”
Whistler Glacier on Sept. 13, 2025. (Chloé Monty/Simon Fraser University).
Further, she said they are part of the landscape that has been there for thousands of years.
She added that it is also a call to action to be more conscious of our carbon emissions.
“If we can lower our carbon emissions, then we can still preserve the larger glaciers and prevent as much melting from happening for those glaciers and the ice sheets,” she said. “Even if for these smaller glaciers, it’s already too late.”
Whistler Glacier is expected to disappear entirely within 10 years, Horstman Glacier within 10 to 30 years, and Blackcomb Glacier within 20 to 70 years.