A glacier is quite simply
a layer of snow that has built up from one year
to the next. They occur with such high frequency
in this part of Canada because of the high amount
of snowfall in the Columbia Mountains, and the
consistently lower temperatures at high elevations.
This prevents the snow accumulation from melting
during the brief summer.
Glaciers usually originate
in the basins or bowls between the mountains,
gradually extending down the slopes. It is the
build up of ice in the bowl, or neve, that eventually
pushes the ice downhill, creating the movement
of the glacier. Where the ‘flowing’
ice encounters rough or steep terrain, it breaks,
forming the characteristic crevasses and seracs,
which make glaciers so beautiful and treacherous.
The best time to explore glaciers is in summer,
when there is relatively little snow covering
these dangers.
The Asulkan and Illecillewaet
Glaciers were made famous by the Vaux family
of Philadelphia who photographed and studied
these rivers of ice between 1887 and 1923. In
their early photographs, it is easy to see how
much farther the toe of the ‘Great Glacier’,
as it was known at the time, extended down into
the valley. While there was a brief period of
advancement during the 1960's and 70's,
overall, the glacier is about 1.5 km shorter
today. Visitors to Glacier House used to be
able to take a short hike from the railway to
reach the snout. It is a much longer and more
difficult trek today, across an avalanche path
and a lateral moraine, which once flanked the
ice.
Other trails, which afford
excellent views of the glaciers, are the Abbott
Ridge, Glacier Crest and Avalanche Crest Trails.
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