July 29, 2019 - Canoeing Fatality at Valdez Glacier Lake

Valdez Glacier Lake, Valdez Glacier,

Three people died at when they approached the face of Valdez Glacier. They were a married couple, Manfred Brida, 62, and Maria Elisabeth Schröer, 68 from Austria and a third man, Albrecht Paul Thomas Schröder-Schröer, 70, from Germany who was acting as their guide. They were visiting the glacier in an inflatable canoe. They were likely drawn to the inlet at the face of the glacier because of bright blue ice being exposed from the ice shelf shifting in the days prior. The area had become active showing signs of approaching calving about 10 days prior with signs of imminent calving that day. Around 5:30pm the face calved behind them as they were in the inlet of the ice shelf. One of our guides witnessed the calving event believing them and their clients were the only ones on the lake. Published reports talk about falling ice. This is incorrect. Video of the calving shows ice rising up out of the water. The European group were knocked into the water from ice rising up from below. At the time of the incident there were no faces that would have broken creating more mass above near waterline. Common calving on the Valdez Glacier ice shelf resulted in ice breaching up from below. One person died of hypothermia, one drowned, and one by force trauma from being trapped among the massive floating ice.

If noticing blue ice angled in/out of the water along floating glacier ice or icebergs, avoid them as it is a sign of a change in balance and may not be properly settled. Blue ice, when out on the water, is a sign it is freshly exposed to the air. Depending on temperatures, in summer it can turn cracked and whiteish within 6-36 hours. Exercise caution when dealing with floating ice.