Every now and then, Mother Nature offers a reminder to skiers, mountaineers, and climbers: when you’re in the mountains, you’re merely a visitor, and I’m the one calling the shots.
Photographer Tori Harp captured one such moment, filming a big avalanche triggered by collapsing ice on the Kaufmann Glacier in New Zealand.
“As the glacier moves under the force of its own weight, it advances until it meets a vertical cliff face,” Harp explained in her post. “Gravity then takes over, sending hundreds of thousands of tonnes of ice, snow, and rock crashing down in a dramatic collapse.”
“While this happens regularly, today’s event was particularly powerful,” she added.
The Kaufmann Glacier splits off from the Tasman Glacier, New Zealand’s longest glacier.
Located in Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park, the Tasman Glacier—also known as Haupapa—was named for Abel Tasman, a Dutch explorer. Several geologic features in New Zealand have two names, one European and the other, like Huapapa, being Maori. The name Huapapa describes the glacier’s ice.
You can, in fact, ski there. Alpine Guides, a guiding outfit, offers ski trips up the glacier using helicopters.
As Harp pointed out, collapsing ice and resulting avalanches aren’t uncommon in these kinds of alpine environments.
Glaciers are in continuous, albeit slow, movement, which, according to NASA Earthdata, causes stress. That stress leads to cracking and eventually blocks of ice cleaving away from glaciers.
Or, in other words, the ice and rock that make up glaciers and mountainous peaks are in flux. And when bits or pieces fall away, they can trigger pockets of snow, creating avalanches. Mountain climbers manage these risks through careful route selection and other measures, but traveling in exposed areas includes some inherent, unavoidable risk.
In other cases, this ever-changing state of geologic affairs can impact ski resort operations. Last winter, a significant rockslide near the famed Peak Express at Whistler Blackcomb, British Columbia, led to the chairlift’s temporary closure.
As for Harp, her adventures in wild areas like the Kaufmann Glacier have resulted in some stunning shots. You see more of them here.
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