The 4th International Glaciological Summer School in McCarthy

We're just back from an International Summer School that we organize every other year. 28 graduate students from all over the world came to McCarthy, Alaska, to hear lectures about glaciology, show their research to peers and work on projects. We also did two glacier hikes, and many took the opportunity to see this fantastic landscape from the air.
This is the fourth time we did this, and this was the luckiest we've been with weather: all but one day were blue sky with amazing views of the Kennicott Glacier and the phenomenal Stairway Icefall.

The Root Glacier with the amazing Stairway Icefall.

Mike Loso is explaining the local glaciology to the summer school students

A river on the glacier

 

Inside a glacier cave.

The Tyndall tsunami

In October 2015, a large rockfall was released near the terminus of Tyndall Glacier in Icy Bay.
The rockfall grazed over the lower part of the glacier and then fell into the ocean creating one of the largest tsunamis ever recorded. At its highest point, the wave reached about 180 m a.s.l.!

The break-out area is to the left of the glacier. It scraped off the surface of the lower part of the glacier

The wave cleared the entire shore line of trees.

The trees are all pointing into the fjord implying that it was the outgoing wave that caused most of the destruction.

The tsunami destruction is clearly visible along the entire side of the fjord.