Inside the walls of ice – the middle of a glacier!

Being inside a glacier is no joke. It is breathtaking and awe-inspiring! My journey to the glacier high in the Swiss Alps began on a tour bus in central Zurich that wound its way down to Lucerne through lush countryside and gorgeous mountains until it came to a stop at the base of Mount Titlis. It took three sets of cable cars and various stages of ear-popping to get to the very top of the mountain, where the light rain had turned to snow and the temperature dropped from 70 degrees to a bone-chilling 24.

10,000 feet above, I stood outside my jacket clutched to my neck, the wind gusts tossing around heavy drifts of snow like clouds of talcum powder, and I stared down the mountain awed. I was at the top of the world. For a brief moment, I wished I had a pair of skis pointed downward, and then as a wind gust slammed into my body like a WWF champion, I had a change of heart. I made my way inside, cowed.

It was time to head into the belly of the beast. I made my way along a narrow platform and pushed open the makeshift doors that led into the glacier. The walls were varied hues of gray and white with shimmering pieces of ice here and there, and cold to the touch as you would expect. What I didn’t expect was the sheer size of the caves that twisted into smaller caverns and winding tunnels until they merged into the darkness beyond. In some areas, I stood in total darkness! Freaky! I was inside a giant ice-cube! I even saw some ice blocks carved into the side of the glacier, like the ones that would build an igloo.Of course, man-made but still very cool.

What an incredible experience! And a boatload of story inspiration and ideas, which of course as you know by now is my M.O. Stay tuned, maybe one of these days, I’ll link back to this post.

1 Comment on Inside the walls of ice – the middle of a glacier!

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