The major attraction on the ice field parkway between Jasper and Banff is the Athabasca Glacier, known locally as the Columbia Ice Fields. The Athabasca Glacier is actually only one of the six principal ‘toes’ of the Columbia Icefield, located in the Canadian Rockies. The glacier currently recedes at a rate of about 5 metres per year and has receded more than 1.5 km and lost over half of its volume in the past 125 years. The glacier moves down from the icefield towns of Banff and Jasper. Easily accessible, it is the most visited glacier in North America. The leading edge of the glacier is within walking distance; however, travel onto the glacier is not recommended unless properly equipped. Hidden crevasses have led to the deaths of unprepared tourists.
While knowledge of it’s existence is adamantly denied by everyone, in 1990 a group of ice cave explores discovered an underground train station deep under the Glacier. No pictures were taken and there has been no return trip. All members of the trip died shortly after the trip, from exposure. To what? That remains classified.
