It just got easier to visit a disappearing glacier. Is that a good thing?

Claude Folmer was about 40 years old when he first visited Mer de Glace, the largest glacier in the French Alps. He remembers enjoying the panoramic view from the observation platform and then taking a short walk to the ice, where he toured the ice cave carved into the surface of the glacier.

Forty years later, on a mild, sunny morning in early February, Mr Folmer – now 80 and accompanied by his adult son Alain – admired the same glacier. He was shocked by the change.

“The difference is enormous. The glacier used to be right underneath it,” Mr. Folmer said, pointing to the gravel-covered river of ice that now lies more than 800 feet below the viewing platform. “For someone who doesn’t know what it was like in the past, it’s a beautiful scene. But when you know the difference, it’s really sad,” he said.

Mr Folmer, who lives near the French town of Albertville, traveled by train to Chamonix, the mountain town from which visitors can easily visit the glacier. He and his son happened to be there on the opening day of a gondola that transports visitors between the viewing platform and the ice below. The Folmers were unaware of the new lift – which replaces an older gondola built in 1988 – but when they heard the news, neither were happy.

“At some point you have to leave the glacier alone,” the younger Mr. Folmer said. ‘Large machines are being installed. Where will it stop?”

It’s a question many travelers are asking themselves as climate change threatens a growing number of tourist destinations – from glaciers to coral reefs, from ski slopes to low-lying islands. For thousands of years, people have raced to be the first to climb a peak, cross a border, or document a new species or landscape.

In some cases we are racing to be last.

The term last-chance tourism, which has gained popularity over the past two decades, describes the impulse to visit endangered places before they disappear. Studies to have found it that the allure of disappearing can be a powerful motivator. But in many cases, the presence of tourists in a vulnerable location can hasten the site’s demise.

There is some evidence that a visit to an endangered place can bring about a meaningful change in behavior among visitors, potentially offsetting the negative consequences of a trip. But the research is still in its early stages and results are mixed.

In a place like Chamonix – where tourism is the mainstay of the economy and where climate change is already having tangible impacts on tourism supply – such tensions are playing out in real time. The shift to a new way of interacting with the landscape may come slowly, because many jobs – and also tourist habits – are built into the old way of doing things. But some are already pioneering a new approach, and with the effects of global warming accelerating, change will have to come quickly.

A new gondola in Chamonix

The Mer de Glace, or Sea of ​​Ice, which once stretched from the slopes of Mont Blanc to the valley in Chamonix, has been attracting visitors for almost three centuries. Mark Twain, Mary Shelley and Alexandre Dumas were among the first tourists to visit Montenvers, the site of the Mer de Glace viewpoint, and helped spread the word about the glacier.

Today, about half a million people visit Montenvers in a normal year, says Damien Girardier, head of the site, which is owned by the city of Chamonix and managed by the Compagnie du Mont Blanc. Most visitors arrive via the red cog train that connects the viewing platform to the center of Chamonix, although some arrive on foot – or ski. Every year around 80,000 people ski down the Mer de Glace, a classic backcountry alpine descent called ‘la Vallée Blanche” (the White Valley) that ends at the glacier terminus, below the viewing platform. They then walk to Montenvers with their skis, or take the lift.

The new lift, which opened the first weekend of February, was built about a quarter mile higher in the valley than the 1988 lift in anticipation of the glacier’s further retreat. In the 35 years since that old lift was built, the glacier has retreated so far that about 600 steps had to be installed between the bottom of the lift and the ice surface. That made it more difficult for older adults and anyone with limited mobility to reach the glacier from Montenvers. It also provided a long uphill climb for weary Vallée Blanche skiers at the end of a long day.

Mr. Girardier said the new elevator, which cost 20 million euros, or about $21.6 million, was built in accordance with strict environmental controls. Colors were chosen to blend in with the landscape, special cable was used to minimize noise and most of the building materials were transported to the site by train. The gondola is also built in such a way that future generations can easily dismantle the structure – if they wish.

“In 15 years, the glacier will probably have reached the end of the lift,” Mr. Girardier said, “but that doesn’t matter. If you go to Iceland, people walk for an hour to get to the glacier. It will be the same for us.”

The new elevator is part of that a larger project that also includes the construction of a new educational exhibit, called the Glaciorium, about glaciers and climate change. The center is expected to open at the end of this year, although some funding is yet to be confirmed.

In the meantime, day trippers can visit the ice cave, which has been revamped with a new design and information displays, while skiers can take the lift to end a day of skiing in the Vallée Blanche, a major source of work. for the leading community of Chamonix.

Julien Ravanello, a mountain guide with the Compagnie des Guides de Chamonix, leads approximately 20 Vallée Blanche tours per season. He said the new lift would make things easier on a route that – with a guide – is within reach of most intermediate skiers.

“We like it above all because it shows people the universe of the high mountains,” said Mr. Ravanello, who added that such an accessible glacier ski descent “is almost unique in the world.”

Capucine Pénicaud, a global health consultant and yoga instructor who lives in Chamonix, skis the Vallée Blanche once or twice a year.

“It is a place that I love and at the same time makes me very sad,” Ms. Pénicaud said of the glacier, adding that her visits to the Mer de Glace almost always move her to tears. “I think it’s a real opportunity to go there because you can understand – and feel – global warming,” she said.

But Mrs. Pénicaud is not happy with the new elevator. She said she didn’t mind making the 45-minute walk to the viewing platform at the end of a Vallée Blanche run. The concrete for the project was also mixed in the Chamonix Valley, near where she lives, and then transported to the site by helicopter. “For the past two years I have seen helicopters dropping concrete every half hour. How much gasoline? How much pollution? How much concrete?” she said.

The Compagnie du Mont Blanc confirmed that concrete for the project had been transported by helicopter, but added that the train had been given priority for the transport of other construction materials “for both environmental and financial reasons.”

Last chance tourism

Can a visit to such a site bring about a change in behavior?

Researchers at Mer de Glace have found that exposure to the vulnerable environment can inspire people to engage in environmentally friendly behavior – or at least express their intention to do so in a questionnaire.

a Survey 2020 of summer visitors to the glacier found that 80 percent said they would “try to learn more about the environment and how we can protect it.” Another 82 percent said they would stop visiting glaciers if it would protect them, while 77 percent said they would reduce their water and energy use.

More research would be needed to see if tourists follow this initiative. But based on the study results, researchers concluded that using last-chance tourism as an opportunity to educate visitors about climate change – while also stirring people’s emotions and showing them concrete steps they can take to protect the environment – could maximize the environmental benefits of climate change. this kind of tourism.

Others are skeptical. Karla Boluk, professor in the department of recreation and leisure studies at the University of Waterloo, in Ontario, pointed out her research which found that a majority of last chance tourists in two Canadian locations were unwilling to pay for carbon offsets.

“There is an ethical paradox in last-chance tourism, and it is about the moral question of whether travelers recognize and respond to the harm they cause,” said Dr. Boluk.

“It is important for us to undertake thoughtful decision-making and careful research to ensure that we do not contribute to the collapse of these places, exacerbating the problems caused by climate change,” she said, adding that tourist “destinations” also include places are. the locals call it home.

A different approach

Elsewhere in the Chamonix valley, the staff of the Research Center for Alpine Ecosystems is working to understand the potential impact of a different approach to nature tourism: citizen science.

Colin Van Reeth, an ecologist and manager of citizen science programs at the center, described the outings he and his colleagues have organized, in which participants are invited to stop at a pond during a walk to document the frogs they see. “For us, it’s about engaging tourists in naturalistic observations of the mountains,” said Dr. Van Reeth. Their hypothesis is that by strengthening people’s sense of connection with the natural environment, they can inspire people to make lasting and meaningful changes in their behavior.

“It’s about identifying those small steps, those small stages of transformation,” said Dr. Van Reeth.

Some don’t need a push.

Standing at the viewpoint, 80-year-old visitor Mr Folmer said he stopped flying two years ago out of concern about the climate, and takes local trips on his bike whenever he can.

“I don’t blame people who fly every now and then when they go on vacation,” Mr. Folmer said as he looked at the glacier. “But when you see this, you think that each of us can make a little personal effort.”

Paige McClanahan, a regular contributor to the Travel section, is the author of “The New Tourist: Waking Up to the Power and Perils of Travel,” out June 18 from Scribner.

Follow New York Times Travel on Instagram And sign up for our weekly Travel Dispatch newsletter for expert tips on smarter travel and inspiration for your next holiday. Are you dreaming of a future getaway or are you just traveling in an easy chair? Check out our 52 places to go in 2024.