PROTECTS
FROM MELTING.
GLACIERS
CLIMATE AWERNESS
THE GLACIER BLANKET IS MORE THAN A BLANKET.
Glaciers in Sweden — and around the world — are melting at an increasingly rapid pace.
The deep blue ice within the glaciers is disappearing and no longer regenerating the way it used to. This melting contributes to rising sea levels, more frequent natural disasters, and negatively impacts nearby ecosystems.
Oskar Kihlborg, an experienced adventurer and glacier expert, saw the rapid changes firsthand while guiding expeditions on Kilimanjaro. Alarmed by the speed of the melting from year to year, he returned home determined to take action. That’s when he launched the climate awareness project Glacier Blanket — an initiative designed to highlight and visualize the effects of climate change.
COVERING SECURING & MEASURING
ANNUAL WORKFLOW
APRIL
The rolls are transported uphill, dragged behind skis, as the terrain is too steep for any other method. In certain sections, the wool rolls are hoisted using a winch.
JUNE
The blankets are rolled out and hand-stitched together to form a large glacier cover of approximately 200 m². The cover is secured with ropes and jute sacks filled with large stone boulders, preventing it from being blown away.
SEPTEMBER
The site is revisited to carefully separate the blankets, roll them up, and transport them to winter storage. Finally, measurements are taken to assess how much of the glacier has been preserved over the season.
THE GLACIER BLANKET IN NUMBERS
200m2
GLACIER BLANKET
100%
SWEDISH WOOL BLANKET
640m3
SAVED ICE BLOCK
5 YEARS
OF COVERING GLACIERS
SLOW THE LOSS
WHY WE WORK SO HARD
Through the project, the original blue ice of the glacier is preserved both as a memory and for potential future research. As glaciers disappear, each preserved fragment becomes a reminder of the landscape that once existed.
Glaciers are vital sources of water. During summer, meltwater nourishes fragile mountain ecosystems and provides water for wildlife, including reindeer. If the glacier disappears completely, that water source is lost, and the mountain environment risks becoming much drier and more vulnerable.
The Glacier Blanket is both a physical intervention and a call to awareness: a reminder that even small actions, repeated collectively, can help slow the loss of what sustains us.
MEET THE TEAM
There have been many teams up on the Björling Glacier, rolling out wool. Strong, joyful, stubborn together, who laugh, work hard and fall in love the mountains, again and again.
