Debris-flow activity in a watershed is usually defined in terms of magnitude and frequency. While magnitude-frequency (M-F) relations have long formed the basis for risk assessment and engineering design in hydrology and fluvial hydraulics, only fragmentary and insufficiently specified data for debris flows exists. This paper reconstructs M-F relationships of 62 debris flows for an aggradational cone of a small ( 50 mm) in August and September, when the active layer of the rock glacier in the source area of debris flows is largest. Over the past similar to 150 years, climate has exerted control on material released from the source area and prevented triggering of class XL events before 1922. With the projected climatic change, permafrost degradation and the potential increase in storm intensity are likely to produce class XXL events in the future with volumes surpassing 5 x 10(4) m(3) at the level of the debris-flow cone. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.