Athabasca Glacier and Columbia Icefield, Alberta

It seems I couldn’t get enough cold this morning on the float trip, so I trekked out to the Columbia Icefield’s Athabasca Glacier with Brewster Tours.

Columbia Icefield: The Athabasca Glacier in Alberta, Canada.

After piling into the “ice explorer,” a mega vehicle with 4’x3’ tires, a full car of us was entertained by Mat, our colourful driver. He was introduced by his alter ego (aka. Jimmy) as, “All the way from Thunder Bay, Ontario, called the most handsome man in the Rockies, your guide, Mat Riva!”

And with that we were driven through the “tire wash” (a manmade puddle to keep the glacier as snow white as possible) and climbed up the rocks to reach the Athabasca Glacier. 

It didn’t look at all like what I expected. It was more like a moonscape but with ice that jutted out from the ground. Really, it’s a big mound of ice the height of the Eiffel Tower in Paris! Deep crevasses 50-100 metres deep of aqua blue water break up the ground. It’s a fantastic sight.

We got 20 minutes to walk around a coned off area on the glacier. People went wild with photos and video, trying to capture their moments up there as thoroughly as possible.

Getting Glacier Water from the Athabasca Glacier in Alberta, Canada.

After I took my own obligatory photos and marvelled at just exactly where I was standing, I did what I had been anxious to do for two weeks: fill my water bottle with fresh glacier water. I drank way too much at once, of course, and had a monstrous brain freeze, but it was so worth it! Nothing tastes like water straight from the glacier itself.

What I Liked:

• Back on level ground, Brewster Tours has set up the Icefield Visitors’ Centre filled with exhibits about the Columbia Icefield. It’s worth it to spend a good half an hour here, although you could easily make it an hour if you’re interested in this kind of thing.
• The ladies’ washroom was in the Guinness Book of World Record. When the building was constructed in 1996, they built 68 stalls. Seriously, this is the type of gesture that makes us ladies very happy…
• The Athabasca Glacier covers about 325 square kilometres, about the size of Vancouver. Everything about it is just so darn impressive.
• There were two avalanches while I was up there, small rumblings from up above that delighted the crowd. Another bigger one happened when I was back down and looking up at it.
  

Tags: Alberta, Athabasca Glacier, Brewster Tours, canada, Columbia Icefield, glacier water, Guinness Book of World Record, Icefield Visitors’ Centre