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Old 08-09-2011, 10:21 PM
 
Location: Silicon Valley, California
1,255 posts, read 2,258,926 times
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Alaskan tourists assailed by collapsing glacier ice | The Upshot - Yahoo! News
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Old 08-09-2011, 10:42 PM
 
Location: Bethel, Alaska
21,368 posts, read 38,008,337 times
Reputation: 13901
Came, saw, broke a leg.
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Old 08-10-2011, 03:58 AM
 
Location: Wisconsin
1,786 posts, read 2,865,097 times
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Wow... cycle of a glacier is natural... much too close in such an event.. When I was in Juneau, I use to listen to the tour boat in the Aurora Harbor start up and move out when the tourists had to be picked up at the cruise ships to take them out for such a tour... a shame someone broke a leg...

Still magnificent to watch mother nature but nature can certainly bite you in the but* if you venture too close.
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Old 08-10-2011, 06:39 AM
 
Location: Alaska 2001-2008
437 posts, read 812,547 times
Reputation: 423
Oh my!
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Old 08-10-2011, 09:45 AM
 
Location: somewhere between Lk. Michigan & Lk. Huron
5,585 posts, read 981,631 times
Reputation: 1394
Mother Nature is beautiful to witness, always to bad when anyone gets injured while Mother Nature is at play in action.
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Old 08-10-2011, 10:14 AM
 
Location: The end of the road Alaska
860 posts, read 2,050,138 times
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I don't know where these tour operators are coming from but anybody with half a brain up here knows better than to get that close to the face of a glacier. What the blazes do these ijits THINK is going to happen when a chunk the size of a skyscraper calves?
My only question is why no-one has been hurt worse for the sake of a bigger tip.
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Old 08-10-2011, 10:41 AM
 
Location: Wasilla, Alaska
17,823 posts, read 23,395,338 times
Reputation: 6541
Quote:
Originally Posted by GrammasCabin View Post
I don't know where these tour operators are coming from but anybody with half a brain up here knows better than to get that close to the face of a glacier. What the blazes do these ijits THINK is going to happen when a chunk the size of a skyscraper calves?
My only question is why no-one has been hurt worse for the sake of a bigger tip.
I do not see what the tour operators did wrong. They had their engines already revved up and moving before the largest chunk of ice hit the water. They were also not close enough to be hit by any ice or the spray of water it created when it fell. It looks to me like their chief concern, and rightly so, was the wave that massive block of ice created when it impacted with the water.

The sudden motion of the vessel is what caused the injury, not the ice falling or the wave. If anything the tour operator should be praised for staying alert and being responsive.
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Old 08-10-2011, 10:46 AM
 
Location: Wasilla, Alaska
17,823 posts, read 23,395,338 times
Reputation: 6541
Quote:
Originally Posted by naturesdreams View Post
Wow... cycle of a glacier is natural... much too close in such an event.. When I was in Juneau, I use to listen to the tour boat in the Aurora Harbor start up and move out when the tourists had to be picked up at the cruise ships to take them out for such a tour... a shame someone broke a leg...

Still magnificent to watch mother nature but nature can certainly bite you in the but* if you venture too close.
I am reminded of the Touron during the 1990s who thought it would be a neat idea to walk right up to the face of Exit Glacier near Seward to get a better photograph. As he walked past all the danger and warning signs, a 10 ton chunk of ice calved on his empty head.

As far as I know, he is still there buried under tons of ice.
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Old 08-10-2011, 11:51 AM
 
Location: Interior alaska
6,381 posts, read 14,517,547 times
Reputation: 3520
Quote:
Originally Posted by Glitch View Post
I do not see what the tour operators did wrong. They had their engines already revved up and moving before the largest chunk of ice hit the water. They were also not close enough to be hit by any ice or the spray of water it created when it fell. It looks to me like their chief concern, and rightly so, was the wave that massive block of ice created when it impacted with the water.

The sudden motion of the vessel is what caused the injury, not the ice falling or the wave. If anything the tour operator should be praised for staying alert and being responsive.

If you watch the video close, you will see the splashes all around the boat from the ice that blew up off the Glaicer calving. When the operator was revving the engine, he was trying to outrun the wave that you can see swelling up behind the boat.

Can't tell if the gal that broke her leg was from falling trying to see the ice calving or got knocked down by a chunk of ice.

Either way the company is going to get sued big time. I bet there is an army of Lawyers trying to get signed on for free and just a commission of what is paid out....
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Old 08-10-2011, 12:24 PM
 
1,084 posts, read 2,048,989 times
Reputation: 1034
Quote:
Originally Posted by Glitch View Post
I am reminded of the Touron during the 1990s who thought it would be a neat idea to walk right up to the face of Exit Glacier near Seward to get a better photograph. As he walked past all the danger and warning signs, a 10 ton chunk of ice calved on his empty head.

As far as I know, he is still there buried under tons of ice.
Yeah, but did he get the picture?
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