To the east, near the town of Valdez, a 5-year-old boy hiking with his family on Worthington Glacier died after being struck by a rock
One summer afternoon in 2019, Zach Sheldon watched huge chunks of ice break off the Valdez Glacier in Alaska and disappear into the lake below, according to CNN.
The next morning, the experienced guide led the group to the top of the glacier to see the result of the ice fall. But as he looked down at the scattered ice on the water, he noticed something. He immediately told the tourists to back off.
Two bodies were hanging from a canoe and a third was about 45 meters away. They were desperately close to the edge of the glacier and to safety but were trapped by ice, mud and debris, said Sheldon, the owner of the Alaska Guide Company.
The victims, eventually identified as two Germans and an Austrian, were boating on Lake Valdez. Sheldon believes they came closer to the glacier to enjoy the unusual blue color of the ice, not realizing that the striking hue was a warning sign that the glacier was about to break.
A last chance trip
The three people who died in Alaska are just a few of those who have died on trips to see the world’s rapidly disappearing glaciers. The death toll may be relatively small, but each tragedy tells a story about a changing and more dangerous landscape.
Glacier tourism has exploded in recent years. Ice attracts people for many reasons: to fulfill a bucket list dream, to get up close to a mind-blowing natural phenomenon, or simply in search of an adventure. However, an additional motivation emerges, to see the glaciers before they disappear.
“I can’t get over how quickly it disappears,” she said. However, while the landscape is shrinking, tourists are increasing. Demand for his tours is growing about 20 percent to 30 percent each year, Sheldon said.
It’s been called “last chance for tourism” and it’s a market with potential for growth, said Jackie Dawson, an associate professor at the University of Ottawa who has researched the phenomenon.
However, the more the ice melts, the more dangerous it becomes.
“It’s a complicated place to visit,” said Garðar Hrafn Sigurjonsson, a mountain guide, who spoke on behalf of the Icelandic Mountain Guides Association. “The landscape changes so quickly that you can see something different from year to year.”
The vast majority of tour guides prioritize safety, he told CNN, “but we’re still dealing with a very volatile element.”
Trips with a fatal outcome
Last month, an American tourist died when an ice cave collapsed on the Breiðamerkurjökull glacier in Iceland. It shook the country, which relies heavily on tourism. Companies have halted summer ice cave tours and authorities are considering new safety regulations.
But even with the best intentions, there are likely to be more accidents and deaths, Dawson said, “because everything is less predictable.”
One summer day in 2018, two people were killed while hiking on the glaciers of Alaska. A 32-year-old woman has died after being hit by chunks of ice falling from Byron Glacier. To the east, near the town of Valdez, a 5-year-old boy hiking with his family on Worthington Glacier died after being struck by a rock.
In July 2022, approximately 64,000 metric tons of water, rock and ice were cut off from the Marmolada Glacier in northern Italy. The ensuing avalanche killed 11 hikers on a popular trail.
Source: Skai
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