While the Ice Still Breathes

Overview

Glaciers are often described as dying, but for now, many are still alive. They breathe in snow, exhale meltwater, and pulse with a rhythm that shapes the world around them. While the Ice Still Breathes is a landmark documentary series that captures one glacier’s final years of movement, revealing what it means to live and work alongside a landscape that is both disappearing and alive.

Set on the Mer de Glace in the Mont Blanc Massif, the series follows science communicator and filmmaker Huw James through four seasons on the glacier. Each episode takes place in a different part of its life cycle, from the silence of winter to the roar of summer melt, and explores how scientists, mountaineers, and communities experience its changing pulse. Together, they uncover what the glacier can still teach us about time, resilience, and our connection to a warming planet.

The Mer de Glace is more than ice. It is a water source, a weather-maker, and a living archive that records centuries of change. Temperatures in the region have already risen by around 1.5 °C, and the glacier has retreated more than two kilometres since the 19th century. Yet even in decline, it remains an active part of Europe’s life support system. Studying how it moves, melts, and breathes helps us understand how mountains, rivers, and people across the world will respond to the changing climate.

While the Ice Still Breathes is a story about presence rather than loss. It is about witnessing the life that remains and learning from it while we still can. Told through breathtaking cinematography, adventure, and grounded science, the series shows that slow change is still change and that understanding the living ice is key to understanding ourselves.

We need this show because the story of glaciers is not over. For millions of people, they are still the source of fresh water, inspiration, and hope. By documenting a glacier that still moves, While the Ice Still Breathes invites us to look closely, listen carefully, and act while there is still time.

with Huw James

Huw James is an accomplished science communicator, captivating audiences worldwide with his unique blend of entertainment and education. With a career spanning over two decades, Huw has dedicated himself to making science accessible, engaging, and fun for people of all ages.

Beyond his live performances and media appearances, Huw is an advocate for science literacy and its role in addressing global challenges. He actively collaborates with scientific organisations and institutions, lending his expertise to initiatives aimed at bridging the gap between science and society.

Huw's passion for science communication knows no bounds. Whether he's hosting workshops, conducting experiments, or sharing captivating stories on stage, Huw James continues to be a driving force in inspiring people of all ages to embrace the wonders of science.

Film

FORMAT: 4 × 50 minutes
FILM TEAM: Science StoryLab (Dir. Huw James)
PARTNERS: Open to collaboration with outdoor, environmental, and technology brands
LOCATIONS: Mer de Glace and the Mont Blanc Massif, France

While the Ice Still Breathes is a four-part documentary series that captures the final living years of the Mer de Glace, one of Europe’s greatest glaciers. Across four seasons, the series reveals how this vast body of ice continues to breathe, move, and shape the world around it, even as the climate that sustains it changes beyond recognition.

Presented by Huw James, the series blends alpine adventure, field science, and cinematic storytelling to create an intimate portrait of a glacier still alive. Each episode follows a different part of its natural cycle. In winter, scientists study the formation of snow and ice deep beneath the surface. In spring, meltwater tunnels awaken and the glacier begins to shift. In summer, black carbon and rising temperatures accelerate its retreat, while in autumn, its final flows reveal the land it has carved for centuries.

The film’s visual style reflects the glacier’s rhythm. Drone and time-lapse photography trace its movement across the year, while macro and contact sound reveal its pulse and breath. Scientists, climbers, and guides appear as companions rather than subjects, showing how people and ice remain connected through shared endurance and respect.

While the Ice Still Breathes is a series about presence rather than loss. It shows that slow change is still change, that a glacier still moving is still living, and that understanding its rhythm can help us understand our own. This is a film about time, resilience, and the fragile beauty of a world that still breathes.

The Science

Glaciers are not frozen in place. They are living systems that flow, deform, and respond to the world around them. The Mer de Glace, the largest glacier in France, has been retreating for almost two centuries, losing over two kilometres of length and tens of metres in depth. Yet it continues to move, to store water, and to record the atmosphere above it.

The science behind While the Ice Still Breathes focuses on this movement and the forces that drive it. Each episode explores a different part of the glacier’s life cycle, from the way snow compacts into ice to the release of meltwater that feeds the valley below. Working with scientists from Université Savoie Mont Blanc, CNRS Grenoble, and local research teams, the production follows active studies in glacial flow, subglacial hydrology, ice chemistry, and atmospheric change.

Key topics include:

  • Snow and Ice Formation: How layers of snowfall compress and recrystallise to form glacial ice, trapping tiny bubbles of ancient air that act as climate records.

  • Hydrology and Outburst Lakes: How meltwater moves through hidden tunnels, creating seasonal floods and shaping the valley’s rivers.

  • Albedo and Black Carbon: How dark particles from pollution settle on the glacier, reducing reflectivity and accelerating melt.

  • Retreat and Geomorphology: How exposed rock, debris, and soil tell the story of the glacier’s past size and its influence on the landscape.

The film treats the glacier as a living indicator of Earth’s health. By documenting its changing breath through the seasons, the science reveals how air, water, and ice remain connected. What happens on the Mer de Glace mirrors the changes seen in glaciers from the Himalaya, the Andes, and the Arctic, helping scientists understand global water cycles and the pace of climate change.

While the Ice Still Breathes combines field observation with accessible explanation. Through patient imagery and clear storytelling, it transforms complex data into a visual narrative of life, loss, and resilience. The glacier becomes both a classroom and a character, showing how even in retreat, it continues to teach us how the planet breathes.

Collaborators

While the Ice Still Breathes brings together a unique collaboration of scientists, athletes, storytellers, and technologists who share one goal: to understand and communicate the life of the glacier before it disappears.

The series is produced by Science StoryLab, directed and presented by Huw James, whose work bridges scientific research and outdoor storytelling. Each episode features partnerships with world-class institutions and individuals working at the intersection of science, adventure, and climate communication.

Scientific Partners
Researchers from Université Savoie Mont Blanc, CREA Mt Blanc, and Université de Lausanne provide field access and expertise in glaciology, hydrology, and atmospheric science. Their ongoing studies on the Mer de Glace inform the film’s core scientific narrative and ensure every sequence reflects active research.

Adventure and Outdoor Partners
Professional climbers, guides, and athletes supported by The North Face and Protect Our Winters Europe join Huw on expeditions across the glacier. Their journeys translate the science into motion, connecting the academic and athletic worlds through shared respect for the mountains.

Technology and Imaging Partners
Collaboration with Canon and other imaging innovators allows the project to use advanced time-lapse, drone, and macro systems to record the glacier’s slow movement with cinematic precision. Each tool helps visualise processes that normally happen beyond human timescales.

Community and Cultural Partners
Local organisations in Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, including guides, educators, and residents, contribute to the human side of the story. Their voices and experiences reflect how glacier retreat shapes daily life, from tourism and water supply to identity and tradition.

Together, these collaborators form a complete ecosystem of knowledge and experience. Scientists provide the data, athletes provide the motion, and storytellers provide the connection. The result is a living record of how people and ice continue to shape one another, captured before the glacier falls silent.

Series Concept

Across four seasons, Huw embeds himself on the glacier and welcomes two guests per episode:

  • A scientist, to explore a key glacier process or environmental theme.

  • An adventurer, to climb, ski, or explore the peaks and valleys connected to the ice.

Together, they merge discovery and experience — translating glaciology into adventure and data into story.

The Mer de Glace is filmed as a living system. It inhales snowfall, flows like a river, cracks like bone, and exhales meltwater. Each episode reveals a new dimension of that life cycle, building a complete portrait of one glacier’s year — and what it tells us about Earth’s future.

Episode Guide

Episode 1: Winter – The Still Breath

Huw joins scientists studying how snow layers compress into ice — the glacier’s first heartbeat. Beneath meters of snow, the glacier still moves, and seismic sensors capture its deep, rumbling sleep.
A North Face ice climber scales frozen seracs nearby, revealing the glacier’s power even in dormancy.
Down in Chamonix, POW Europe activists document air pollution trapped by winter inversions, linking the valley’s habits to the mountain’s fate.
Theme: Stillness, preparation, patience.
Science: Snow metamorphism, accumulation, inversion effects.

Episode 2: Spring – The Unveiling

As temperatures rise, the glacier begins to move. Meltwater carves moulins through the ice and unstable lakes form at its base. Huw works with a glacial hydrologist to study outburst floods and the risk of sudden releases.
A trail runner or skier traverses the upper glacier, following the first channels of meltwater back to their source.
POW Europe joins to explore how the alpine community prepares for changing seasons — the intersection of science, safety, and sustainability.
Theme: Reawakening, renewal, balance.
Science: Glacial hydrology, outburst lakes, spring melt modelling.

Episode 3: Summer – The Pulse of Melt

Summer brings energy and chaos. Huw teams up with a climate physicist to study the albedo effect — soot, ash, and black carbon that darken the ice and accelerate melt.
A North Face alpinist joins to climb Mont Blanc, tracing the glacier’s journey from its snowy source to its vanishing terminus.
Together, they document the noise, speed, and danger of a glacier at full energy — while POW Europe connects these changes to real-world climate solutions and policy.
Theme: Energy, consequence, adaptation.
Science: Albedo loss, melt dynamics, surface reflectivity, black carbon.

Episode 4: Autumn – The Long Exhale

The glacier slows. Meltwater tunnels collapse into silence. Huw works with a geomorphologist to map the newly exposed landscape — the moraine, rock, and debris left behind.
A paraglider or photographer joins to capture aerial footage of the glacier’s scars, revealing how far it has retreated in a single year.
POW Europe and local mountain guides reflect on the past year and what the glacier’s decline means for the next generation of outdoor life.
Theme: Reflection, legacy, renewal.
Science: Annual mass balance, retreat mapping, moraine formation.

OTHER WORK

DOWNSTREAM

Downstream is a documentary film produced in collaboration with Protect Our Winters and Icebreaker. Our team at Science StoryLab handled the production, direction, filming, editing, and photography. The film explores the journey of water from glaciers to rivers, illustrating the impacts of climate change on these crucial ecosystems. It has been presented at venues like the EU Parliament, UNESCO, and the United Nations, and is Protect Our Winters Europe's flagship project for the International Year of Glaciers. We hope it contributes meaningfully to the conversation on climate action.