The Portage Glacier calving into the frozen Portage Lake. Unbelievable footage. #AlaskaLife

Wed, 12 Jan 2022 16:10:19 +0000

via Jason Rouch Jr.

"I was blessed to experience this INCREDIBLE, RARE, and SCARY moment today. The weather was once again amazing here in Anchorage, so I decided to do another hike out to the Portage Glacier.

I wanted to get a photo fairly close but still in a safe spot so I walked over to land next to the glacier. Very shortly after I got to land, I heard the ice begin to crack, and each second it grew more intense. So I pulled out my phone and took this video! A giant piece of ice the size of a house weighing probably tens of thousands of pounds fell right in front of me!

I think this will be my last time on the ice for this season, since it’s all cracked up now. Usually I get a bit closer, but just yesterday, a great friend Cindy Carlton warned me that if the glacier calves, sometimes the ice chunks can fall under the ice and create a wave buckling the ice upwards. Thank you for your excellent advice! If you hadn’t warned me, I would’ve still been on the ice, and a lot closer."