All language subtitles for Alps 02

A thousand peaks crowning a
continent.

The Alps.

Between sea and summits, a trove of
natural treasures.

Alpine grasslands, Arctic tundra,

Mediterranean gardens,

gigantic glaciers...

(birds screech)

Gaping canyons echoing the sound of
thundering waters... (water rushing)

Dark woodlands full of mystery...

(bird clicks)

Barren crags...

(echoing crash)
.. and slopes of vivid green.

A raw expanse to overwhelm the eye
of all but one...

the one who soars above it all.

(music quietens, slowed-down
flapping)

(wings flap, snow crunches)

(eagle screeches)

It takes an eagle's eye to
appreciate the Alps.

(wings flap)
Their majesty and their dimensions.

(slowed-down flapping)

This is the realm of the
golden eagle.

In Alpine law, the realm of winter.

Arching across 1,000 kilometres,

this crumple zone between
converging plates

rises steadily from Eastern
lowlands

to Europe's highest pinnacle.

Major rivers rising on the roof of
Europe,

often separated by narrow
watersheds,

reach three different seas.

Eight nations share the Alps,

three of them their highest
mountain.

Monumental towers guard the king of
the Alps,

dwarfing Europe's ancient
fortresses,

this martial architecture bears
witness to an age-old battle:

the elements against a rising mass
of rock.

These ramparts are granite,

the rock that sets this mountain
apart

from the rest of the Alps.

Looking east from its top,

a skyline of majestic,
yet lesser peaks.

To the west,

nothing but big skies.

(majestic orchestral music)

Mont Blanc, the ancient patriarch of
the Alps,

the highest point.

Other parts of the Alps were thrust
together from far and wide,

stacked, folded and jumbled in the
vice of colliding continents.

But these granites rose straight
from the deep...

and they are still rising.

It may seem strange,

but glaciers accelerate their rise.

(ice crunching)

In high valleys, the snowfall of
millennia accumulates.

Snow turns into solid ice,

but solid is not rigid.

Ice under pressure begins to flow
downhill.

(ice cracking and rumbling)

As the valley widens and the ice
flows over edges,

it's stretched and torn.

(ice cracking)

(water trickling)
At the height of summer,

once the blanket of snow is gone,

the sun can reach deep down.

For decades summers have been
getting hotter,

with a new record nearly every
year.

(water flowing)
Today, glaciers are melting.

But for aeons, the scraping,
scouring, plucking

and polishing action of massive
ice floes,

many times mightier than those we
see today,

have worn down the Alps.

Thousands of metres of rock have
been removed,

an enormous weight loss,
enabling the Alps to rise.

(water flowing)

Below the glaciers,

and above the tree line,

sprawling grasslands are the
summer resort

of red deer.

(stag bellows)
But the summer is gone,

and the rut is all but over.

(stag bellows)

(stags bellow in the distance)
The stags are totally exhausted,

worn out and bruised like warriors
returning from combat.

And combat it truly was.

Many hinds have gathered on this
rutting ground...

(stag bellows)
..and attracted many stags.

(antlers clatter)

(stag bellows)

Where strong stags compete for
females,

there are battles.
(antlers clatter)

(exciting music)

(antlers clatter)

For dominant stags defending a
harem,

that means relentless stress.

(exciting music, stag huffs)

(antlers clatter)

(galloping, stag bellowing)

After two weeks of total exertion,

the stags stay on for a few more
quiet weeks

to heal their wounds and regain
strength to face the winter.

(calm music, distant bellowing)

Clear frosty nights and frigid
morning mists

mark the change of the season.

In the skies, the tide has turned.

(wind whistles)

From now on, the northerlies
prevail.

(squeak)

(birdsong)

Returning from a reconnaissance
flight,

the eagle has seen all he needs to
know.

A marmot den is something an eagle
will remember,

even until next spring.

(wind howls, birdsong)

Marmots are twice as fat now
as in the spring.

Unlike stags, who just lost
one fifth of their body mass.

(scratching, birdsong)

For half a year, these Alpine
rodents have stuffed themselves.

(wind blowing, birdsong)

Now it's time to make the den cosy

for a long winter underground.

To hold out six months underground,

you want a comfy home.

(rustling)

In this den, the male prepares the
bedding.

His mate supplies the hay.

Out there, it's risky.

But as long as the choughs are
watching,

one can relax.

(rustling, birds tweeting)

A safe, well-furnished den

is a marmot's dream.

(rustling footsteps)

But it's not quite there yet.

More padding is wanted.

(rustling, squeaking)

Even when the bed's perfect,

with a restless bedfellow,
a good rest is hard to get.

(calm music, rustling)

Marmots have to stay put
all winter.

(tweeting) While the choughs can
escape to a milder sphere.

(wings flap)

Way below, at the foot of the
mountain,

autumn still has a few short but
sunny days in store

before winter arrives.

(calm orchestral music, birdsong)

Magically, overnight,

maples and larches have turned to
gold.

Rooted in the sediments of an
ancient ocean,

vertical forests now shine
in the brightest hues.

But soon, the scenery will be
monochrome.

In hidden valleys of the southern
Alps,

a revenant has been secretly about

for a few decades now.

The Slovenian, Italian and Austrian
Alps

have seen the cautious gradual
return

of an old native who had been
missing

from almost the entire
mountain range

for a century.

(crunching)

A brown bear mother
and her nearly grown-up cubs,

feeding on beech nuts.

They're getting ready to hibernate
in a well-hidden cave,

maybe together for one last winter.

(snuffling, rustling)

When ravens appear, it may be
taken for a sign.

(snuffling, rustling)

Alerted, one of the youngsters
tests the wind.

(snuffling, rustling, birdsong)

The mother lets him take the lead...

a teaching moment.

(wings flapping)

That's what the ravens meant.

A stag, gored in the rut.

Something the cubs have never seen
before.

Warily, they explore.

(bear growls softly)

(growling grows louder)

But then they really go at it.

Every extra pound on their ribs

will help to get over the winter.

(bear grunts)

This might be the family's last
shared meal

before they go their separate ways.

(distant growling)

(munching sounds, growling)

(ravens caw)

Ravens, early birds at any carcass,

but they need big predators to
carve it up.

It's best to wait a while.

These wise birds know,
"first come first served"

is not a natural right.

(growling)

(sombre orchestral music,
rustling)

The wind is getting colder,

sharper.

(snuffling)

A thousand mountain streams have
fallen silent.

(water laps gently)

Warm hues of autumn
belie the coming cold.

Glowing in the sunset,

the cold rocks of these famous
peaks

conjure up memories of a distant,
much warmer past.

(majestic orchestral music)
A young eagle

in search of a territory of his own

explores the southern limestone
Alps,

stretching across Slovenia,
Austria and Italy.

The limestone of Italy's Dolomites

has nothing in common with the
granites of Mont Blanc.

The Dolomites are only half as
high,

yet their breathtaking panoramas

can vie with any icon of the Alps.

Erosion grinds its sculptures down
to what they once were,

sand and silt in a warm, shallow
sea.

(majestic orchestral music)

Layer by layer, over more than
200 million years,

skeletons of marine organisms

accumulated enormous bodies
of sediment on the ocean floor.

Africa's collision with Europe
pressed them up into the sky.

Thus a tropical sea floor became
the habitat

of an ice-age remnant.

Arctic or mountain hares

once inhabited the cold plains of
ice-age Europe.

When the climate turned warm,

they retreated northward to the
Arctic,

and up to the higher regions
of the Alps.

Scandinavian and Alpine
populations

are now 2,000 kilometres apart.

(licking)

Adapting their camouflage,

mountain hares change their fur
twice a year.

A few more weeks, and their winter
coats will be as white as snow.

(bird caws)

(tense music)

(flapping)

Meanwhile, it's best to stay alert

and near hiding places.

With marmots already underground,

the eagle has set his sights on
hares.

An eagle's eye works like a
powerful zoom lens.

He can spot his prey long before it
can spot him.

(exciting music)

(rustling)

(tense music, birdsong)

(rustling)

(music intensifies)

(music stops, wind blows)
A bungled stealth attack.

This eagle is still a rookie.

(brooding music)

A majestic rookie by any means.

(flapping)

(birdsong)

The low sun dazzles the eyes.

But the moment it's hidden,
the cold breath of the mountains

makes the body shiver.

Those who remain up high
and out in the open

must be well prepared for harsh
days ahead.

Down in the valleys below the fog,

it's now often colder than on the
high slopes.

Soon the bears will have
disappeared into their winter dens.

Deer descend to their
winter quarters in the forest.

(calm music)

(rustling)

Long before the first snowfall,

winter sends its harbingers.

(wind howls)

(crackling)

Each night now, the temperature
plummets below freezing.

(calm music, water rushing)

The mirrors of a thousand
mountain lakes will soon go blind.

(crackling)

Up among the crags,

the snow is here to stay,
setting the stage

for a breathtaking spectacle.

(birdsong)

Chamois don't fear the cold.

Quite the opposite.

After languishing in humid summer
heat,

they are now in their element.

On high slopes and crests,

wind will sweep away the snow,

so that the chamois can find
grazing even in winter.

(bird cawing)

One who has prudently prepared for
a long winter

is the spotted nutcracker.

Having stashed thousands of pine
seeds in hundreds of deposits

in the ground along the
timber-line...

the challenge is to find these
larders under the snow.

This takes nearly magic memory.

His bird brain has stored a precise
topographical map...

a 3D map of a vast and complex
terrain,

which looks very different now than
it did in autumn.

Sometimes the ground has frozen so
hard

that the nutcracker cannot get all
the seeds he has buried.

These seeds will sprout in spring,

thus the flying forester
rejuvenates the stock of pines

from which his own species will
profit

for centuries to come.

(calm music, hooves on snow)

(flapping)

Among the chamois, the mood is
tense.

(chamois gurgles)

Bucks and females are now coming
together.

(hooves galloping on snow)

(chamois gurgles) It's all about
the future of their population.

Bucks spray their coats with sperm
and urine,

a personal perfume any female will
remember.

A secretion from glands at the base
of a buck's horns

marks his claim near the females'
stamping ground.

(chamois gurgles)

Rivalling bucks tax each other.
(chamois gurgles)

Each buck needs to decide -

attack or retreat?

(exciting music)

Counter-attack, or exhaust the
opponent.

Anything but surrender.

(exciting music)

(music stops)

(hooves on snow, chamois gurgles)

A performance and a stage
to take one's breath away.

(calm orchestral music)

This is the sovereign air space

of a pair of golden eagles.

(snow crunches)

(majestic orchestral music
slowed-down flapping)

Over the years they've built a
number of nests around here.

They do not breed each year,
but soon their will be two eggs

in one of the nests.

Across the Alps, well over 1,000
breeding pairs

are occupying all the suitable
territories.

Breeding success greatly depends on

how well a pair gets through the
winter.

(majestic orchestral music)

Golden eagles stay together for
life,

for three decades and more.

(wind howls)

Being born up here

means being born to climb...

and to flourish in Arctic
conditions.

(wind howls)

Each morning, the females scramble
up to the ridges

where the wind
has cleared away the snow,

and they can feed.

The bucks follow.

It's not an easy climb.

(wind blowing, hooves on snow)

A film of frozen fog

covers these limestone rocks in the
southern Alps.

This is dangerous terrain.

(wind howling, snow falling)

(rocks crumbling) In early winter,

bucks become obtrusive stalkers.

Every move she makes,
every step she takes,

a buck will be watching.

(wind howls)

There's no liquid water up here,

yet ibex stay up high all winter.

(hooves on snow)

A gang of young bucks

has closed in on a female leading a
kid.

With their tongues and a special
organ on their gums,

they taste the scent she emits

which signals her readiness
to mate.

(quiet, tense music)

She's the focus of attention,

but indifferent to these youngsters.

(foreboding music)

(music stops, rocks crumble)

To be taken seriously as a suitor,

a buck must be at least
six years old.

But it's rare that bucks under nine
or ten years get to mate.

Two mature, strong bucks have been
standing back and watching.

One of these she might choose.
(horns clatter)

(horns clatter)

(horns clatter)

(horns clatter)

(horns clatter)

But the choice is often made by
fate.

(horns clatter)

(horns clatter)

(horns clatter)

(horns clatter)

(soft orchestral music)

He's out of the race... for good.

A broken leg up here

means death.

Within an hour,

a calm and sunny day can turn into
a howling white inferno.

A humid southerly from the
Mediterranean

hitting the high ridges

can bring gale-force winds,

and masses of snow.
(flapping)

In an airborne life,

whims of the atmosphere are not the
only challenge.

Bearded vultures,
giants of the sky,

are claiming their share of space.

(sweeping orchestral music)

To avoid nasty weather from any
direction,

ibex and chamois try to be in the
right place

at the right time.

(wind howls)

Mountain hares let the wind work
for them,

exploiting snow drifts for shelter.

In the same way, ptarmigans will
calmly sit out any storm for days.

Not even an eagle can see them now.

For the golden eagle,

neither an Arctic nor a
high mountain species,

these are hard times.

(wind howls)

Six feet under is the perfect place
to truly rest in peace.

Marmots cosy up as families to keep
warm.

The temperature inside the den
decreases gradually

from 15 degrees in autumn
to freezing in spring.

The animals also lower their body
temperature

down to about 5 degrees plus.

They survive on their bodies'
storage of fat and water.

(wind howls)

With thick layers of snow and soil
on top,

the entrance to their extensive den
securely blocked,

the marmot is nature's paragon of
bunker mentality.

There's not the slightest draught
down here,

no matter how hard the snow
may blow outside.

(brooding music, howling wind)

In such weather, the zone about
the tree line is a hostile place.

Roe deer and red deer are seeking
shelter in the mountain forest.

But more and more often in recent
years,

they are not alone here.

Wolves had almost become extinct in
the Alps by the early 20th century.

About a century later,

their tracks in the snow appeared
again.

(birdsong)

For thousands of years, red deer
would migrate from the high Alps

down to the flood plains of big
rivers.

But their migration routes are now
cut off by roads and towns,

so they stay in the mountain
forest.

(birdsong)

Covered in water-repellent
top hair

over a fluffy layer of wool,

they can deal with the cold.

It's the deep snow
that wears them down,

and the lack of forage forcing them
to subsist on a meagre diet

of bark and branches.

Their bodies are now in
energy conservation mode.

In this state, having to flee from
a threat

will critically tax their reserves.

For fast-flowing mountain rivers to
freeze over,

temperatures must drop further....

and they will.

The deer limit their movements to
trampled paths

between resting and feeding areas

and nearby drinking places.

In contrast to deer,

a wolf's energy level

stays high.
Blood circulation never slows.

(panting)
Being much lighter than deer,

wolves do not sink into deep snow
as easily.

(panting)

After generations without wolves,
bears and lynx in the Alps,

deer are beginning to learn again

about big predators.

(ominous music, bird caws)

For a deer,
the extra stress of a chase

lowers the chances of surviving the
winter.

(water running)

Remote valleys of the Alps have
been abandoned by people

in recent decades.

Fortunate for red deer,
the new wilderness

offers alternative prey.

(exciting music, wolves panting)

(wind howling)

One particular species has invited
back the wolf.

(foreboding music)

(wind howling)

(boar snorts)

(suspenseful music)

A burly wild boar would be too
risky a quarry for a single wolf.

(exciting music)
But as a team,

the pack is confident it can take
on a single animal.

(exciting music)

(boar grunts)

Poor judgement.

This individual seems rather
powerful.

Better to let it go.

(boar grunts)

But somewhere, there's always a
ready meal.

Worn out by the rut, the trials of
winter have proved too much

for an old stag.

(sombre music)

Winter is a hostile season.

Up among the peaks,
it never really ends.

The monumental Matterhorn,

and the massive Mont Blanc,

are featured as the thrones of
winter

in ancient Alpine law.

(sweeping orchestral music)

No matter how often the sun has
risen during past millennia,

so far it's never thawed away the
snow on these iconic summits,

never stripped them of their mantle
of majesty.

However stunning the snow-capped
Alps may appear

from distant lowlands,

to fully appreciate their glory,

their vastness and complexity,

one must ride the winds like an
eagle.

(majestic orchestral music)

But the face of the Alps is
changing.

A thick new layer of winter snow

veils the rapid melt of what used
to be called

"the eternal ice".

Over aeons, at a glacial pace,

ice has been grinding down the
rocks.

Now, a warming climate bears down
on the glaciers.

In their rapid demise, winter is
just a minor break.

(snow crunches)

Even the harshest winter
has its balmy days.

The storm is over.

But other risks persist.

(flapping)

(wind howls)

Ptarmigans and hares

are now replacing marmots on the
eagles' menu.

(paws crunching on snow)

But the little animals in their
winter suits are lucky.

The eagle is distracted.

(chirping)

A huge bearded vulture allows
no stranger near his nest.

(flapping)

Ignoring the sky,

the youngsters are caught up in a
play fight.

(paws crunching on snow)

In the eastern Alps,
tracks in the fresh snow

are evidence of chamois on their
way back up to the high ridges.

The forest offered shelter from the
wind,

but little food.

The snow now lies deep.

It's only on windswept hilltops

where some grazing might be found.

After a blizzard, the steep lee side
of a mountain

can turn into a hazard zone.

(rumbling)

(wind howling)

The wind, the architect of
avalanches,

has moved enormous volumes of snow.

Along the edges, it has piled up
huge drifts.

Tonnes and tonnes of wind-pressed
snow

projecting from sheer cliffs

are a threat to every living thing
below.

(scratching)

(tense music) Impossible to say
when the spell will break.

(thud, rumble)

(wind howling)

(echoing thud)

(clattering)

(rumbling)

(clattering and rumbling)

(rock crumbling)

(whoosh)

The speed and force
of the white death

is beyond comprehension.
(galloping)

(deep rumbling)

Heart-stopping violence

fades into peaceful silence.

(quiet music, wind blowing)

A new sunrise -

an expression of nature's
indifference.

(raven caws)

The misfortune of some

is fortunate for others.

(ravens caw softly)

(flapping)

(ravens squawk)
Ravens, as always,

the first to descend on a
funeral feast.

(ravens squawk)

A frozen chamois is not exactly
fast food,

yet the ravens must be quick before
the sovereign claims his own.

(tense music)

(slow flapping)

(eagle screeches)

(eagle screeches)

(raven caws)

Both ravens and eagles depend on
avalanche victims

to make it through the winter,

and get ready for an early
breeding season.

(flapping)

(playful music)

(ravens squawk)

"Cleanliness is next to godliness,"

the old saying goes.

And why not mix in a little
playfulness?

(ravens squawk)

When dense fogs fill the valleys,

they give a vague impression of an
ice-age panorama of the alps

some 20,000 years ago.

(majestic orchestral music)

Back then, only the highest peaks
would protrude from the ice,

such as the Grossglockner,

Austria's highest mountain.

It's been the ice ages that
sculpted the rising Alps

and ground them down to their
present size.

Where the ice has vanished,

grassland and woodland has conquered
the ground,

inviting new inhabitants.

(quiet music, birdsong)

Europe's biggest cat.

The Eurasian lynx is another
revenant to the Alps,

after a century of absence.

(bird squawks)

(bird caws softly)

The lynx is an elusive, solitary
hunter.

(tense music)

Roe deer,
abundant in Alpine forests,

are his preferred prey.

Like most cats,

the lynx hunts by surprise,

not chase.

(hooves crunch on snow)

(suspenseful music)

Between hunter and hunted,

it's a battle of the senses.

(soft crackling)

Both animals pick up the slightest
sound,

the smallest movement.

(bird caws)

Cats can move noiselessly,

like ghosts.

(tense music, birdsong)

Success depends on getting
close enough

for a surprise attack.

(tense music, birdsong)

(exciting music)

(music quietens)
The frustration is shared.

(bird caws)

(water rushing)

The waters are beginning to flow
again.

(loud lapping)

(gentle splashing)

The ice is gone.

Warm winds set off the snow melt.

(soft music, gentle splashing)

Even under the snow,

the marmot's inner clock

is right on time.

There's nothing in these mountains

that would escape an eagle's eye.

High up on a tiny ledge,

two delicate new lives have just
begun.

(sweeping orchestral music)

As spring cascades towards another
Alpine summer,

thousands of parents will again

raise the next generation of
wildlife

in the Alps.

(chick squawks softly)

(sweeping orchestral music)