Rockies Climbers Explore Down Athabasca Glacier

Last week, a number of Rockies climbers explored down into the Athabasca Glacier. Will Gadd was joined by Sarah Hueniken, Raf Andronowski, John Price and a number of researchers on a rappel into the glacier between Banff and Jasper.

The team was trying to learn about how melt water moves through glaciers. They descended a feature known as a moulin to nearly 60 metres below the surface. The temperatures on the surface of the glacier were down to -30C, but in the glacier it was up to 0C.

The team found small bugs flying around and algae in the canyon-like feature. The team spent three days with scientists from the national science and technology museum in Ottawa, a Parks Canada interpreter and a professor from the University of Alberta. The Athabasca Glacier has receded 1.5 kilometres and lost over half of its volume in the past 125 years.

@realwillgadd exploring new depths underneath the Athabasca Glacier yesterday…. Well the last two days at work took to me to one of the most incredible places I'll likely ever visit. We spent days exploring Ice caves that seemed to go on forever with an all star crew of professional athletes, glaciologists, friends & standup camera crew. The temperature on the surface was average around -30c but underground it was around 0c… Ice is an incredible insulator! Many images to share from this experience, but in due time… Red Bull Discovery Channel / CTV

A photo posted by John Price (@johnpricephotography) on Dec 16, 2016 at 11:05am PST