Glacial Eclipse

Two figures stand on the surface of a great glacier, as a total solar eclipse passes overhead. These ice climbers are Moises and Nano, two young local gauchos who have spent their lives growing up in this area. As glacier guides, their livelihoods are directly dependent on the survival of the glacier, making this moment bittersweet. It is an amazing experience to witness the beauty of our universe from a magical location, but the eclipse also represents the delicate balance between the power of the sun and the longevity of our planet’s glaciers. In this case, the Glacier Leones of Northern Patagonia is receding at an alarming rate and this ice will likely not be here the next time a solar eclipse passes overhead.

As me and my team stood on the surface of a gigantic glacier, exhausted from a week of glacier hiking, we cheered for joy as we witnessed a once-in-a-lifetime annular solar eclipse (ring of fire). From first contact to the moment of totality, we couldn’t believe that months of planning, travelling halfway around the globe and an intense week of location scouting had paid off.