ice falls
Glacial chunks tumbling
Ice falls are sections of a glacier where the ice flows over a steep drop, fracturing into a chaotic jumble of crevasses and towering ice blocks called seracs.
Like frozen waterfalls, they form where the underlying terrain forces glacial ice to descend rapidly: The expedition's most dangerous stretch was crossing the Khumbu Icefall.
Ice falls are notoriously unstable, with seracs prone to sudden collapse.
- glacierSlow-moving ice mass
- cascadeSuccessive downward flow
- frozenSolidified by extreme cold
- crevasseDeep glacial fissure
- avalancheRapid mountain snow collapse
icicles · plunge · climbing · rope team · crampons · alpine · precipice · thundering · mountaineering · polar expedition · shatter · ropes · vertical · frigid · extreme cold · Niagara · winter · roar
physical state of water
ice fallswaterfalls
Vertical river descents
cascades · rapids · cataracts · torrents · hot springs