New Zealand's glaciers

Mount Cook glacier's rare display

Glacier visitors witness ‘blue ice’ event

By NICOLE MATHEWSON - The Press | 1:26PM - Friday, 14 January 2011

COOL ADVENTURE: Visitors on a Glacier Explorers trip were surprised to come up close and personal with the “blue” iceberg.

VISITORS near Mount Cook witnessed a rare sighting of ‘blue ice’ at the base of a massive iceberg that rolled over in the Tasman Glacier Terminal Lake yesterday.

Photographers have only two hours to capture images of the crystal-clear blue ice on the base of an iceberg before it turns white after exposure to air.

Visitors on a Glacier Explorers trip yesterday were surprised to come up close and personal with the iceberg, even touching the coffee-cup sized crystals.

"This ice is so dense and compressed, it's five times harder than the ice you might have in your gin and tonic," said Denis Callesen, tourism general manager for Aoraki/Mount Cook Alpine Village Ltd.

The visitors were "luckier than they could possibly imagine" to see the phenomena, he said.

"In Disneyland they spend millions of dollars creating shows like this, but here this is simply nature at work."

The iceberg was created when 50 million tones of ice ‘calved’ off the Tasman Glacier face in July and August last year.

"As they melt down, they become unstable, especially in this warmer weather. This is the second significant iceberg rollover we've had this week, and on Monday another one-million tonnes of ice calved off the terminal face," Callesen said.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/south-island/4542307/Mount-Cook-glaciers-rare-display