Root Glacier Climbing

---

Today we went ice climbing! And it was cool!

We met our guide for the day, Max, and he outfitted us with boots, crampons, harnesses and gloves. We hiked to the Root Glacier and Max made a couple stops on the way to explain what to do in the off chance we meet a bear (I won't keep you in suspense - we didn't), he showed us a boulder that was carried down from way up in the mountains by the glacier (the First Nation peoples have a better story - they were put there by giants in case of war, so they'd have rocks to throw at the enemy).

We got to the glacier and put on our boots and crampons under Max's tutelage. He showed us how to walk on the glacier, it's not as simple as it seems, and then we were off! Max took us to an ice 'wave', a 10 meter high cliff shaped like a wave. Contrary to what you might think, a glacier is not flat on top! Max set up the climbing ropes, hooked us up one at a time, and we climbed that ice cliff! First you stick your ice axes up ahead of you, one, then the other, then you stab your toe blades into the ice (the crampons have two blades sticking forwards from your toes). Then you stand up and repeat, till you reach the top. A great way to burn up any spare energy you might have. We all made it to the top, even Gilat! We each reached the top, then rappelled back down.

Then we hiked over the ice some more to another location, another ice cliff, this one plummeting into a blue pool of water. The most beautiful sight you could imagine. A white ice cliff shooting out of pure azure water. And to think that a few days ago there was no water there at all. A crack had opened up and the water drained out. Then it closed up (froze up?) and the pool filled again. The glacier is constantly changing.

Max set up the anchor with ice screws, and one at a time hooked us up and we rappelled down towards the icy blue water, then climbed back up. Gilat opted not to repeat the process. After he completed his climb, Ethan decided he loved it and wants to join me on my rappelling trips! Yay!

Then came the high light of the day. Max took us to a moulin. A moulin is a hole in the ice that was drilled out by a rivulet of flowing water (there are lots of those). The water drills a hole in the ice, fills it, and eventually reaches another 'river' either in the middle or at the bottom of the glacier. Then the pool drains out and the flowing water continues to shave away the sides of the hole, making it bigger all the time and exposing the ancient blue ice of the inside of the glacier.

We stayed well away from the moulin while Max set the anchor, and then the kids and I took turns rappelling a bit into the moulin and climbing back out. We only rappelled about 5 meters down, not nearly close to the bottom, because it's way harder to climb on the old glacial ice. The ice is very hard, so it's harder to stick the axes and crampons into it. The ice is also very brittle, so when we do manage to strike the ice well with our foot, it crumbles and doesn't hold.

But the inside of a moulin is so amazingly beautiful that it was definitely worth the effort. A waterfall of clear glacial water pouring down into the abyss behind, a chimney of pure blue ice all around and deep below, ice formations carved out by the water, pure magic!

We finally had enough for the day and the clouds started coming in so we were getting a bit chilled. You'd think that being on a great big lump of ice all day we would suffer from the cold, but actually we were very comfortable for most of the time, even in just two layers and a rain coat. Anyway, we packed up and walked off the edge of the glacier, took off the crampons and boots, and back into our regular shoes. You should go ice hiking for a day once to really appreciate your every day shoes!

Have a look:

We made our way back to Kennicott and the lodge, said goodbye to Max and thanked him for a wonderful day, and just made it in time for dinner. It was 2 inch thick steak with roast potatoes, and Caesar salad. Absolutely delicious!

The hotel manager made her daily announcements and we went off to our room, satisfied after a good day and a good meal.

---