Under the background of climate change,it is believed that the glacier avalanches will become a new normal in the Tibetan Plateau,which severely threatens the destiny of " the Asian Tower" and the ecological security of " the Third Pole" . Consequently,to study the glacier avalanches in High Asia is of important significance for the human and the environment. In this paper,several glacier avalanches historically documented are presented and the development of glacier avalanches are introduced; the research content is summarized based on the material composition,motion characteristics,possible causes and impact of the glacier avalanches; the available research methods are presented; finally the existing problems in recent research on glacier avalanches are discussed and the research direction of glacier avalanches is prospected from the perspective of study methods.