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The Athabasca Glacier is one of the six principal 'toes' of the Columbia Icefield, located in the Canadian Rockies. The glacier currently recedes at a rate of about 5 metres (16 ft) per year and has receded more than 1.5 km (0.93 mi) in the past 125 years and lost over half of its volume. The glacier moves down from the icefield at a rate of several centimetres per day. Due to its close proximity to the Icefields Parkway, between the Alberta towns of Banff and Jasper, and rather easy accessibility, it is the most visited glacier in North America. The leading edge of the glacier is within easy walking distance; however, travel onto the glacier is not recommended unless properly equipped. Hidden crevasses have led to the deaths of unprepared tourists.
Athabasca Glacier snow coach
The Icefield Interpretive Centre, closed during the winter (mid-October to mid-April), stands across from the glacier. It is used as a lodge and for ticket sales for sightseeing on the glacier. Standard buses transport tourists to the glacier edge, where they board specially designed snow coaches for transport over the steep grades, snow and ice part way up the glacier.
The glacier is approximately 6 km (3.7 mi) long, covers an area of 6 km2 (2.3 sq mi), and is measured to be between 90–300 metres (300–980 ft) thick.
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Les montagnes Rocheuses ou « Rocheuses » (en anglais : Rocky Mountains ou Rockies) désignent une grande chaîne de montagnes intracontinentale dans l'ouest de l'Amérique du Nord qui s'étend sur plus de 4 800 km depuis le Nouveau-Mexique au sud jusqu'à nord de la Colombie-Britannique au nord. Elle s'étend sur le territoire des États-Unis et du Canada. Son altitude varie entre 1 500 m près des hautes plaines et 4 401 m au Mont Elbert dans le Colorado. Sa largeur est comprise entre 120 et 650 km. Les Montagnes Rocheuses prennent une forme oblongue, étendue en longitude sur plusieurs milliers de kilomètres.
