The 2005 International Symposium on High-elevation Glaciers and Climate Records was held in Lanzhou, China, from September 5 to 9. The Symposium was organized by the International Glaciological Society under the direction of Magnús Mar Magnússon with the support of co-sponsors The National Natural Science Foundation of China, The Chinese Academy of Sciences and The Chinese Meteorological Administration. The Local Organizing Committee, chaired by Qin Dahe, included Shi Yafeng, Li Jijun, Yao Tandong and Ren Jiawen. Their efforts resulted in a stimulating meeting and an excellent venue for the international sharing of ideas, observations and data from the Earth’s mountain ice fields.

Eighty-six attendees from 10 countries were registered and both oral and poster presentations were given. This volume contains 58 of the papers presented at the conference. All papers were refereed and edited in accordance with the International Glaciological Society’s usual practices. The Co-Chief Editors were Ellen Mosley-Thompson and Lonnie G. Thompson who were assisted by Associate Editors Vladimir Aizen, Michael Bender, Henry Brecher, DeWayne Cecil, Mary Davis, Tracy Mashiotta, Lewis Owen, Jiawen Ren, Margit Schwikowski, Mathias Vuille and Ninglian Wang. We appreciate the special effort by Professor Peter Mayes, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection in Trenton, New Jersey, who provided additional editorial assistance to a number of the Chinese authors.