22 March 2009

Ice stream, White River headwaters, Arthur's Pass

Ice stream One morning in January 2005, Terry, Lance and I left Barker Hut at the head of the White River before sunrise for an ascent of Mt Wakeman — initially a cold climb, but well worth it. I photographed this stream on our return. Rock emerging from snowfields should be approached carefully; the sun's heat, absorbed by the rock, melts the surrounding snow, often undermining it substantially. It's not always as apparent as this, and even a short fall can snap an ankle.
All content © 2009 Pete McGregor

3 comments:

Zhoen said...

Not a natural human environment, in my eyes.

Relatively Retiring said...

Beautifully stark, but it's hard to judge the scale of this.

pohanginapete said...

Not much to eat up there, Zhoen. Some things manage it, though — insects, spiders, etc. They're tougher than us, though.

RR, I could easily have disappeared into that gap. In general, showing the scale of mountains can be difficult because of the foreshortening effect, which becomes more marked the steeper the slope.