#Date taken: April 2021

#Location: British Columbia, Canada

#4 of 5 #Edition 1/1

Glaciers are fascinating. The fact that ice can actually flow and accumulate over such long periods of time blows my mind. Here in British Columbia, we're fortunate to have around 17,000 of them, although they are melting faster than ever before. For years it has been a dream of mine to get inside one, to see an ice cave. I had hiked to glaciers before, but they were smaller glaciers, without caves. All of the largest and best glaciers for caves are extremely remote, to the point where hiking isn't a feasible option for access.

I found out about the existence of this cave by fluke through social media. I’m not normally one to FOMO into something, but ice caves had been on my bucket list for years and this one looked absolutely out of this world. There are ice caves and then there are ice caves. It was spring and summer was coming, so it was a now or never kind of thing. The problem is, it’s not really accessible by foot, particularly during the shoulder season.

So I immediately sent out messages: some to my group of what I call “yes men” - good photographer friends who will say yes to pretty much any trip, and another to a helicopter pilot friend who has a ton of experience with British Columbia’s southwestern glaciers. As luck would have it, he knew exactly where the caves were and was down to not only take us, but spend the day with us there.

I typically save the use of helicopters for very special trips to places that are otherwise impossible or too sketchy to access on foot. They are particularly useful for shoulder season mountain trips. The plan was to be flexible and play it by ear, so we kept a close eye on the forecast. Spring weather can be pretty unpredictable and you don't want to end up trapped in the mountains! Plus we were also looking for a day without too much heat.

Before we knew it, a weather window opened and we were flying from Vancouver at the crack of dawn to a glacier about 50 minutes north. We took off at sunrise, which made for an incredibly beautiful flight over the mountains. 50 minutes is quite long for a helicopter flight, but time flew by and soon we were landing in the snow at the foot of a glacier, which was also buried in snow.

Seeing the buried glacier, and then noticing the small openings into the caves, was quite intimidating. As I walked down towards the cave, I had feelings of apprehension about going under the ice. I will never forget the feeling that washed over me when I entered, as it was like nothing else I had ever experienced. By going into an ice cave, you are relinquishing full control of your life to Mother Nature. Ice caves are inherently unstable, even in cold temperatures, so there is no choice but to accept the risks.

If you do accept the risks, the experience is breathtaking. The walls looked like they were carved by an artist, rather than just water. I reached out and touched the walls and they were as smooth as they looked, as if they were glass. The floor of the cave was frozen, but under all of that ice, the river was roaring. When you picture an ice cave in your mind, you might imagine a quiet place, and it would be in the very dead of winter. But during the other months, melt water flows. The roaring echoed and reverberated and there was one section at the end of the cave that we had to take care to avoid, as the ice was thin, creating a risk of breaking through and falling into the river's literal headwaters.

The cave was huge - the size of multiple houses, at minimum. I took several photos of my friends to help provide a sense of scale. There were times where I'd gaze at the ceiling above me, and wonder if it was about to crack and come crashing down.

When I was taking a self-portrait near the entrance, that's exactly what I was thinking about. The most dangerous part of the cave is around the entrances, so I made sure to quickly get my shot over and done with!

In the end, we spent a good five hours photographing the ice cave. Reluctantly, we packed our gear back into the helicopter and began the flight back to civilization. I still think about it often, as it was one of the best experiences of my life. Unfortunately, the cave has since collapsed and melted, the glacier receding significantly. But other caves are likely accessible now, and I hope to return again in the spring to view the changes with my own eyes, rather than just watching the real time satellite imagery.

I hope you enjoy viewing this as much as I enjoyed creating it! Tristan Todd