Athabasca Glacier

The Athabasca Glacier is one of the six principal toes of the Columbia Icefield, located in the Canadian Rockies. Due to the warming climate, the glacier has receded more than 1.5 km in the past 125 years and lost over half of its volume. It currently recedes at a rate of 2-3 metres per year. [ [http://climbwild.net/MP_Mt_Athabasca_page_one.html MP_Mt_Athabasca_page_one ] ] The glacier moves down from the icefield at a rate of several centimetres per day.Due to its close proximity to the Icefields Parkway, between the Alberta towns of Banff and Jasper, and rather easy accessibility, it is the most visited glacier in North America. The leading edge of the glacier is within easy walking distance; however, travel onto the glacier is not recommended unless properly equipped. Hidden crevasses have led to the deaths of unprepared tourists.

The Icefield Interpretive Centre, closed during the winter (mid-October to mid-April), [ [http://www.glacierparkinc.com/downloads/partners/ICEFIELD.pdf Columbia Icefield 2007 tour brochure] ] stands across from the glacier. It is used as a lodge and for ticket sales for sightseeing on the glacier. Standard buses transport tourists to the glacier edge, where they board specially designed snow coaches for transport over the steep grades, snow and ice part way up the glacier.

The glacier is approximately 6 km (3.75 miles) long, covers an area of 6 km² (2.5 mi²), and is measured to be between 90 metres (270 ft) and 300 metres (1000 ft) thick.

ee also

*List of glaciers

Footnotes

References

* [http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/ab/jasper/visit/visit32_e.asp Parks Canada entry]