agustina prigoshin

Yesterday was my formal introduction to glaciers (I’ve been to Nisqually Glacier atop Mount Rainier in Washington, but I didn’t see it like I saw these).

I had to wake up way too early for a vacation (6:30 a.m.) and watch as the sun woke up three hours after me. It was about 20 degrees, but luckily, the catamaran I jumped on was heated.

The double-decked catamaran sailed on Argentino Lake with a mission: to introduce us to some of South America’s most prominent glaciers.

Our first stop was Upsala Glacier. This receding glacier is the biggest of 47 that make up Los Glaciares National Park.

Glaciers recede when more of its mass breaks off than what gets accumulated. Unfortunately, global warming is causing waters to warm up, increasing the amount of ice that breaks off the face of the glacier and less snow fall at the top of the mountain keeps it from advancing any farther.

After an hour of sailing, we arrived at Upsala Glacier, but couldn’t get through all the icebergs to see it. Upsala Glacier has lost too much mass and all its pieces were floating in the water; the icebergs had blocked off the northern arm of the lake.

Even though we didn’t get to see Upsala Glacier, its icebergs were jaw-dropping. They were as small as soccer balls and as big as half the size of the 150-foot boat.

Our next stop was the Spegazzini Glacier. This one is the tallest in the park, but it’s also receding. It was difficult to take my eyes off the magnificent snow wall until I heard thunder, but with such a clear sky, where was the noise coming from? A splash confirmed that the noise was a falling chunk of glacier, an iceberg in the making. It was like watching the slow demise of a one of mother nature’s greatest creations and at the same time, it was a sight and sound I’ll never forget.

While back-tracking on route to the grand finale glacier, Perito Moreno, we passed by Upsala Glaciers’ icebergs again and saw the most beautiful blue pieces of compacted snow; afterall, glaciers aren’t made of ice, but years and years of accumulated and compacted snow.

We finally arrived at Perito Moreno, a glacier that is about the same size as the city of Buenos Aires. What makes this glacier so famous is that it’s one of the few glaciers that is still moving forward. The conditions atop the glaciers’ mountain are so perfect that it snows every single day, making the glaciers snow accumulation greater than the amount of mass it loses.

The voyage was overall an unforgettable one.