Athabasca Glacier
Participants: Sarah, McLean, Patrick LatterTime: 2 hours Weather: -15.0 °C
Directions
From Lake Louise, take the Icefields Parkway 1 hour north, to the Athabasca Glacier.
Gear
- Snowshoes
- Food
- Water
- Warm ski jacket
- Warm fleece
- Warm socks (or 2 layers of socks)
- Toque
- Thermal underwear
- Snow-pants or gaiters
- Gloves
Story
The Athabasca Glacier is one of the six principal 'toes' of the Columbia Icefields. It is currently receding at a rate of roughly 2-3 meters per year. In the last 125 years it has receded more than 1.5km and has lost over half of its volume. Due to hidden crevasses it is extremely unsafe to venture past the leading edge without the proper equipment/training.
There are some fantastic views of glaciers along the Icefields Parkway.
Not far from the car, there was some VERY large ravens that were hoping for some food from us.
After a short 1.5km of snowshoeing, we had reached the face of the glacier.
The surface was surprisingly smooth, almost glass like.
Patrick Latter
