K2 Aviation runs scenic flights around Denali, America’s highest point at 20,310 feet, and transports aspiring summiters to basecamp. On a routine flight in early March this year, pilot Chris Palm noticed something unusual on the flanks of the mountain. The normally uniform Muldrow Glacier was sliced and diced with exceptionally large cracks and crevasses. Not in one spot, but everywhere. The glacier looked like it was falling apart.
The Muldrow is a 39-mile long glacier that starts high on the northeastern slope of Denali and flows into the McKinley River. It’s one of four main routes to the summit (the others are the West Buttress, West Rib, and Cassin Ridge), and for the last 60 years, it has flowed downhill at a rate of 3 to 11 inches per day. It’s now moving at a blistering pace (for a glacier) of 30 to 60 feet per day, or up to 100 times faster than usual.
Denali glacier speeding downhill By Morgan Krakow, Anchorage Daily News
Published: April 20, 2021, 6:02am
Share: The view from Eielson visitor center in Denali National Park. (Jeffrey Kreulen/Dreamstime)
ANCHORAGE, Alaska A Denali glacier suddenly moving at a speedier clip is intriguing scientists, increasing the risk of nearby flooding and potentially closing off some climbing routes on the mountain this season.
Muldrow Glacier which begins on Denali’s northeastern slope and flows to form the McKinley River is experiencing a geologic phenomenon: a surge event.
The glacier, which usually moves at an average or slow speed, is now jagged and covered with crevasses as it stretches and moves 50 to 100 times faster than normal, according to the National Park Service.
Alaskan glacier is moving 100 TIMES faster than normal due to changes in mass between the top and bottom of the 39-mile-long river of ice
The Muldrow Glacier is experiencing a surge that is moving the sheet of ice 100 times faster than normal
Scientists say it has advanced up to 60 feet a day, which is causing fractures and deformities in the glacier
Muldrow historically experiences a surge every 50 years, with the last only moving it 50 miles
Experts say this event was caused by changes in the mass between the top and bottom of the glacier