Tourists flock as warming Alps crumble

Hansruedi Burgener has welcomed up to 800 people a day -- twice the average number of visitors -- to his remote mountain hostel in the Alps this summer. They all hope to watch a rock the size of two Empire State Buildings collapse onto the canyon floor up to 656 feet below, as retreating glacier ice robs a cliff face on the eastern edge of the Eiger mountain of its main support. "We would also have made a living without the rock coming down. But it would have been a bit quieter," Burgener said. Accessible only by a steep hike of more than an hour, Burgener's place offers a safe view of the crumbling rock right opposite, and refreshments like a cold beer. Every few minutes or so, there is a surprisingly loud sound as a boulder comes thundering down, sending a cloud of dust into the air. The sharp crackle of smaller stones rolling down the cliff face is almost continuous. The spectacle is a dramatic reminder that the Alps have been hit hard by global warming, and underscore warnings from scientists that thawing permafrost -- the frozen soil that can glue mountains together -- will cause more havoc in the future.