White River Glacier is an

alpine glacier A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires d ...

located on the south slopes of

Mount Hood Mount Hood, also known as Wy'east, is an active stratovolcano in the Cascade Range and is a member of the Cascade Volcanic Arc. It was formed by a subduction zone on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast and rests in the Pacific N ...

in the U.S. state of

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

. It ranges in elevation from about . It is among the best known of the twelve glaciers on the mountain, and the lower reaches are a popular destination for

Nordic skiing Nordic skiing encompasses the various types of skiing in which the toe of the ski boot is fixed to the binding in a manner that allows the heel to rise off the ski, unlike alpine skiing, where the boot is attached to the ski from toe to heel. Re ...

enthusiasts. The glacier is the source of the White River, a tributary of the

Deschutes River The Deschutes River ( ) in central Oregon is a major tributary of the Columbia River. The river provides much of the drainage on the eastern side of the Cascade Range in Oregon, gathering many of the tributaries that descend from the drier, easte ...

, and has a long history of washing out the bridge where

Oregon Route 35 Oregon Route 35 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Oregon, running between Government Camp on the slopes of Mount Hood and the city of Hood River. OR 35 traverses part of the Mt. Hood Highway No. 26 ( Mount Hood Scenic Byway) ...

crosses at . The glacier is a remnant of the massive glaciers that formed during the last

ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages, and g ...

and have created White River Canyon. The canyon divides the two largest ski areas on Mount Hood, and is easily seen from many areas of

Timberline Lodge ski area Timberline Lodge ski area is the ski and snowboarding area of Timberline Lodge, a National Historic Landmark in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is one of a few ski areas in the United States with most of the skiable terrain below the main lodge. ...

, and from the upper southern runs of

Mount Hood Meadows Mount Hood Meadows is a ski resort on the southeastern face of Mount Hood in northern Oregon, and is the largest of the mountain's ski resorts. It is located about 67 miles (108 km) east of Portland, Oregon, Portland, and 35 miles (56 ...

. The glacier is bounded on the east by a ridge shared with Newton Clark Glacier and on the west by a ridge shared with

Palmer Glacier Palmer Glacier is an extinct glacier on the south slopes of Mount Hood in the U.S. state of Oregon. With glacial ice movement having stopped in the mid-1980s, it is now considered a snowfield rather than an active glacier. The former glacier, no ...

. The upper glacier forms at the base of ''Steel Cliff'' to the east of an area known as ''Triangle Moraine''. The glacier lies almost entirely within

Mount Hood Wilderness The Mount Hood Wilderness is a protected wilderness area inside the Mount Hood National Forest, in the U.S. state of Oregon. The area, covering , includes the peak of Mount Hood and its upper slopes, and ranges from temperate rain forests at the ...

. The western edge of the canyon is extremely steep and in times of low visibility causes descending mountain climbers on the ''South Route'' (through Palmer Glacier to Timberline Lodge) to veer excessively to the west to avoid the possibility of entering the canyon. This has resulted in numerous search and rescue operations near or in

Zigzag Canyon Zigzag Glacier is an alpine glacier located on the upper southwest slopes of Mount Hood in the U.S. state of Oregon. It ranges in elevation from with fingers in canyons extending to about , and lies almost entirely within Mount Hood Wilderness. ...

, west of Palmer Glacier. (See

Mount Hood climbing accidents Mount Hood climbing accidents are incidents related to mountain climbing or hiking on Oregon's Mount Hood. As of 2007, about 10,000 people attempt to climb the mountain each year. As of May 2002, more than 130 people are known to have died climbin ...

Jökulhlaup A jökulhlaup ( ) (literally "glacial run") is a type of glacial outburst flood. It is an Icelandic term that has been adopted in glaciological terminology in many languages. It originally referred to the well-known subglacial outburst floo ...

s originating from White River Glacier occurred in 1926, 1931, 1946, 1949, 1959, and 1968. These washed out Highway 35 (or its predecessor) each time. An increase of outbursts from White River Glacier may be related to increasing temperatures and the size of the fumarole field at the glacier's head at Crater Rock. The White River Glacier has decreased in area by 61% between 1907 and 2004. The

glacier terminus A glacier terminus, toe, or snout, is the end of a glacier at any given point in time. Although glaciers seem motionless to the observer, in reality they are in endless Glacier#Motion, motion and the glacier terminus is always either advancing o ...

has retreated over the same time period.

References

Glaciers of Mount Hood Glaciers of Hood River County, Oregon Mount Hood National Forest Glaciers of Oregon {{HoodRiverCountyOR-geo-stub

See also

References