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Great Gorge of Ruth Glacier

You enter the Great Gorge of the Ruth Glacier—the world’s deepest. The ice is 3700 feet deep, some of it more than a thousand years old. The surrounding walls soar 4000-5000 feet above. Were the ice to melt tomorrow, you would witness a spectacle twice as awesome as the Grand Canyon—a gorge a mile wide and nearly two miles high. Watch for climbing camps…. These may be the world’s most impressive granite monoliths. You’ll stare in disbelief at mile-high spires of sheer granite with names such as Moose's Tooth, Broken Tooth, and Bear Tooth. 100 miles to the south, these features are very identifiable and really look like animals' teeth. So immense, what appear to be tiny flakes on these walls are actually ledges wide enough to park a tractor trailer. On the right is Mt. Dickey, the highest granite wall in North America. It would take two Yosemites, one stacked atop the other, to equal its height. After fresh snowfalls or in the early morning sun, you might see avalanches raking down it. The sun's warmth releases them into a shower of rock and ice that ricochets for a vertical mile before slamming into the glacier floor, sending reverberations a dozen miles. Experienced climbers recognize avalanche-prone slopes and stay clear... (gene looking up) As the Ruth Glacier flows down a steeper gradient, it tears and fractures into a treacherous and virtually impassable 10-square mile section known as the Ruth Ice Fall. Video Feature: Bob and weave past the granite spires of Broken and Bear Tooth

Aerial Perspective

From this point, over the Ruth Glacier,t the mountain top is 20 miles away and ten thousand feet above the airplane.

Dr. Fredrick Cook

Cook was the first man to explore this area. In 1906, he travelled up the glacier and named it after his step-daughter.

Glacier #2

The internal flow rate of a glacier can be from a few inches to tens of feet per day. An icefall is where the crevasses open up with great frequency.

The Great Gorge

The Gorge is the deepest trench in North America. The ice below is over 3500 deep and the granite walls, left and right, stand four to five thousand feet above the glacier.

A Mile Above the Ice

Without man made refrerences, size and distance can be decieving.

Firn Line

Last winter's snow has melted off the surface of the glacier. Snow is not accumulating below the four thousand foot level.

Mt. Dickey

To the right of the plane is Mt. Dickey, named after the man who named Mt. Mckinley in 1897.

Granite

Granite forms below the surface of the earth as molten magma cools. These spires have been uplifted over the past 65 million years.

The Mooses Tooth

The granite spire to the left stands five thousand feet above the glacier.

Ham and Eggs

These granite walls are popular with big wall climbers. Some of the route names are quite colorful.

A Pilot's Perspective

Flying around this area, makes one appreciate what an interesting planet we live on. The views never get tiring.

Close Enough to Touch

The air can be so clear, that something a thousand feet away seems close enough to touch.

Mountain Flying

It's an ever changing environment, as a pilot, my job is to make the tour as safe and comfortable as possible.

Avalanche

As we fly by these steep faces, watch for avalanches..

Avalanche Raking Face of Mt. Dickey

Avalanche

Climbers have to be selective when traveling on a glacier. The danger of avalanches is ever-present.

Avalanche

Avalanche

It's spectacular to watch an avalanche from a distance.

How close were we?

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