The Banski Suhodol Glacier (Bulgarian: Ледника в Бански Суходол, Lednika v Banski Suhodol) is a glacieret in the Pirin Mountains of Bulgaria. It lies below the Kutelo peak (2908 m.) in the upper Banski Suhodol Valley (Bulgarian: Бански Суходол).
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👉 Banski Suhodol Glacier in the context of Pirin Mountain
The Pirin Mountains (Bulgarian: Пирин [ˈpirin]) are a mountain range in southwestern Bulgaria, with the highest peak, Vihren, at an altitude of 2,914 m (9,560 ft).
The range extends about 80 km (50 mi) from the north-west to the south-east and is about 40 km (25 mi) wide, spanning a territory of 2,585 km (998 sq mi). To the north, Pirin is separated from Bulgaria's highest mountain range, the Rila Mountain, by the Predel saddle, while to the south it reaches the Slavyanka Mountain. To the west is located the valley of the river Struma and to the east the valley of the river Mesta separates it from the Rhodope Mountains. Pirin is dotted with more than a hundred glacial lakes and is also the home of Europe's southernmost glaciers, Snezhnika and Banski Suhodol.
In this Dossier
Banski Suhodol Glacier in the context of Kutelo
Kutelo (Bulgarian: Кутело [ˈkutɛɫo]) is a summit in the Pirin mountain range, southwestern Bulgaria. With a height of 2,908 m, it is the second highest peak in Pirin after Vihren (2,914 m), and the third one in Bulgaria, behind Musala (2,925 m) in Rila and Vihren. Kutelo is a double peak with a small saddle between the two parts, the lower being only one meter shorter than the higher one, at 2,907 m. Seen from the town of Bansko, it appears higher than Vihren.
Like Vihren, which towers to the south, Kutelo is built up of marble but its slopes though sheer are not so rocky and it is not very difficult to climb. On the north-eastern slopes there are alpine climbing tracks of category II "b". The Premkata saddle is situated to the south and leads to Vihren while to the north is the narrow karst edge Koncheto which links Kutelo to the summit of Banski Suhodol. There are no marked tracks to the summit of Kutelo, but on the slanting western slope among the rocks is nestled the track between the Vihren refuge and Yavorov refuge. This track also leads along Koncheto. In the homonymous waterless cirque to the north-east there are snow-drifts all the year. To the south-east is the cirque Golemiya Kazan with Europe's southernmost glacier, Snezhnika. Pirin's second glacierlet, Banski Suhodol Glacier, is situated below the northern face of Kutelo.
Banski Suhodol Glacier in the context of Snezhnika
Snezhnika (Bulgarian: Снежника 'the snow patch') is a glacieret in the Pirin Mountains of Bulgaria, a remnant of the former Vihren Glacier. The glacieret lies at an elevation between 2,425 m (7,956 ft) and 2,480 m (8,140 ft) in the deep Golemiya Kazan cirque at the steep northern foot of Vihren (2,914 m (9,560 ft)), Pirin's highest summit. Due to the relatively easy access and its location along a popular hiking trail, Snezhnika is Bulgaria's most famous glacieret. Snezhnika has an average area of 0.01 km (0.0039 sq mi) and in 2006 it had a volume of 30,000 m (1,100,000 cu ft).
Snezhnika's size varies in length from 70 to 100 metres (west to east) and in width from 40 to 90 metres (north to south). Its firn is 8–11 m thick at the base and its snow cover, which is mostly fed by avalanche snow, can be as deep as 20 metres in March and April. Snezhnika's latitude of 41°46′09″ N makes it the southernmost glacial mass in Europe; the nearby Banski Suhodol Glacier below Koncheto, although larger, is slightly to the north.
Banski Suhodol Glacier in the context of Calderone glacier
The Calderone glacier (Italian: Ghiacciaio del Calderone) is a glacier located in the Apennine Mountains in Abruzzo, Italy. Found in the Gran Sasso d'Italia mountain group, it lies just beneath the Corno Grande, the highest peak in the Apennines.
With the disappearance of the Corral de la Veleta glacier in the Sierra Nevada in 1913, "Il Calderone" became one of Europe's southernmost known glaciers (42°28′N, 13°33′E), being slightly to the north only compared to Snezhnika (latitude of 41°46′09″ N) and Banski Suhodol Glaciers in Pirin Mountain in Bulgaria. If present deglaciation trends continue, the Calderone may soon disappear as well. The discovery of a number of small glaciers in the Accursed Mountains in 2009 seemed to threaten Calderone's positions.