Natural feature
Athabasca Glacier
Retreating tongue of an ancient icefield, laced with hidden crevasses and vanishing fast.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to the Athabasca Glacier in Banff's Columbia Icefield opens on an ordinary July afternoon in nineteen ninety, when a ten-year-old boy ran ahead of his parents across the ice. From there it widens into the larger story of this place: one of six tongues of the ancient Columbia Icefield, carved by the last Ice Age and now retreating faster than almost any glacier in the Rockies. You will hear what the dated markers along the access road actually measure, and why the barriers ahead exist.
This audio guide was created using AI.