Rime Mushrooms on Mountains: Description, Formation, and Impacts on Mountaineering

Abstract

rooms, commonly called ice mushrooms, are large bulbous or mushroom-shaped accretions of hard rime that build up on the upwind side of mountain summits and ridges and on windward rock faces. This paper reviews the characteristics of rime mushrooms; the topographical, geographical, and meteorological conditions under which they form; and the significant challenge they pose to climbers. Photographs and descriptions from Southern Patagonia, where rime mushrooms are well known, illustrate the phenomenon.