A Day on the Root Glacier

      We are thrilled to partner with Kennicott Mountain Guides for a very flexible day of adventure on the Root Glacier.  Folks have the option to hike to the edge of the glacier… hike upon the glacier with crampons…  hike upon the glacier with additional opportunities for brief ice climbing and rappelling… or focus entirely on ice climbing and rappelling for the full day.

      Jen and I opted for the full-day combination experience.  We met our guides at the Kennicott Mountain Guides office, just down the hill from the Kennicott Lodge, for some orientation and gear checks.  Then we packed up our crampons and layers for the day, and walked about 1.5 miles to the edge of the glacier.  Once at the edge of the glacier, we put on those crampons, got a quick lesson in how to walk safely on ice, and began to strike off for the heart of the Root Glacier.  At the edges, this glacier is brown, gravelly, and melty - not the most beautiful sight.  But as one gets further afield towards the glacier’s center, the ice turns bright white and becomes incredibly dramatic.  Swooping wave formations, pools and channels of meltwater, and a bright sun shining on all of it - we had permanent smiles on our faces all day long.

     While the walk and explorations on the glacier were pretty fabulous, the true highlight was the opportunity to try ice climbing for the first time.  Our guide set up a top-rope belay system with a series of anchors at the top of a particularly-dramatic, 60-foot, wave-looking formation.  The bottom of the cliff was sloped gently, but the face became increasingly vertical until the last few feet that were actually overhanging.  We put on harnesses, refreshed a bit on the ol’ figure-8 knots and climbing commands of our youth, and began the process of gaining purchase with toe-holds and ice-axe swings. Jen quickly mastered the process, looking like an upwardly mobile inchworm with particularly sharp legs.

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