A Sweet Ice Cave

Once, when we lived in Austin, we went to the Inner Space Cavern.  It was awesome.  I mean, we were adults, and all the other people on the tour were little kids with their parents and the tour guide had all sorts of silly stories about the rock formations (like the "ice cream cone"), which were obviously meant for kids, but it was still cool to see all the stalactites and stalagmites and underground rivers and things.

Bob and I have also been known for making snow forts.  Usually, when there is enough snow and we visit my parents for Christmas, we pile up all the snow from the deck in the back yard and carve it out into an awesome snow fort.

So, when we saw the sign for the Ice Cave, it was like two really awesome things put together- caves and snow forts- and we knew we had to make time to see it.

We had to ride all the way up to the top of the Glacier to see it.  After paying for our tickets, we waited around for the tour with about 30 other people at the "Ice Palace Container".

We all followed our tour guide to a sheet in the wall on the backside of a ski slope... (wasn't looking too promising at that point).

Once inside, it started out like a giant snow fort.  We had plenty of time to examine the snow crystals on the wall as the forty people in front of us snaked into the depths of the cave.  After 15 minutes or so, when we were starting to wonder if we'd ever get past the entrance, we realized what was causing the hold up.

We had to trek down a set of ice stairs.  This might not have been a problem if it weren't for the following two issues.  1: it was warm at the glacier- above zero- so the snow and ice was melting and refreezing.  Even with the rubber treads, those stairs were slippery.  2: We were wearing snowboard boots- not the best range of motion, but pretty decent boot-like rubber soles with nice thick treads.  Other people were wearing SKI BOOTS.  Slick, plastic-bottomed, non-bending ski boots.  I'm surprised no one fell and hurt themselves!!

So far, the ice cave was way cooler than our snow forts.  We never had stairs.

As we snaked through, the line kept moving even slower...

Because we had to climb down metal ladders.  REALLY?? Metal ladders?  With ice and SKI BOOTS!??!  You could never have something like this in the US.  It was like a law suit waiting to happen.  But all the ski boot clad tourists clambered down, slipping once in a while, but always catching themselves.

It was actually very beautiful.  Aside from the fact that we crammed 40 or 50 people into an ice cave meant for a tour of 10, it was just like an ice cave with stalactites and stalagmites and everything.

We learned (at least I think- the tour guide spoke German) that the ice on the Glacier shifts up to 40 meters a year and that the inside of the ice cave is always changing- much quicker than the inside of a rock cave.  My favorite part of the tour was the room where they lit the ice formations in different colors.

It was really awesome to see an entire cave made of ice.  I wish we had the time and money to take the real expedition where you get to crawl through things and have to be clipped into a harness, but the one hour tour was pretty cool (literally).

My standards for snow-fort making have definitely increased.  Good thing we'll be moving to a place where they get a lot of snow in the winter...