Scientists say that it’s not unusual for icicles to get very big when it’s cold
Two hikers in Metro Vancouver found what they think is an 8-foot-tall icicle last week when they were hiking on the Stawamus Chief Trail in Squamish.
Benjamin Munnalall and Mitchell Vander Ploeg said that while hiking on the trail on February 27, they saw a big icicle hanging from a rock face.
The hikers told CBC that it was low enough for them to grab, so they couldn’t help but try to carefully detach it.
Munnalall said, “We tapped it, and it fell, and we caught it as it was falling.”
“Then we thought, ‘This is the biggest icicle I’ve ever seen.'”
“It was a miracle that it didn’t fall and break into a million pieces when it hit the ground. I don’t know how we were able to fix everything, “said Vander Ploeg.
The two people found the icicle a day after there had been a lot of snow in the area. Last Monday, it was below zero in Squamish.
One scientist says that it is not unusual for icicles to get that big when it is cold outside.
Roland Stull, who runs the Weather Forecast Research Team at the University of British Columbia’s department of earth, ocean, and atmospheric sciences, said, “They can easily get that big.”
“That icicle looks like it could have been frozen water from a waterfall.”
“You need to pay extra attention.
The hiking guide was written by Stephen Hui.105 Hikessaid that pulling an icicle could be dangerous depending on how far the icicle could fall and if there are other people around.
Hui said, “Watch out for falling ice, and if you want the ice to fall on purpose, you need to be extra careful.”
“But if it’s far from the trail, no one is down there, and they’re careful, I don’t see too much harm in it.”
Munnalall says they made sure the icicles around it weren’t loose before they started breaking them off.
‘Quite the spectacle
Both hikers were taller than six feet, and they took several pictures of the icicle, including one of it standing up straight. They say the ice chunk was at least two feet taller than them.
“It’s a pretty big show. You could hold it straight up, but it’s hard to carry when your arms are spread out,” “said Munnalall.
He also said that the icicle was too heavy to carry down the hill, so they had to leave it near where they were.
They said they thought about destroying it, but instead they put it on a signpost along the trail so other hikers could see it.
Munnalall said, “On the way down, we told some hikers to look for this huge icicle against the signpost and make sure to take a picture with it.”