Name of calved 'bergy bit'

When I was recently in AK I visited the Le Conte glacier. While there we witnessed a chunk of the glacier rise from the bottom of the ice underwater and float away. Our guide gave it a particular name and said they were quite dangerous to any boats near a glacier as you wouldn%26#39;t see it until it hit your boat from underneath. I can%26#39;t remember the name. Can anyone refresh my memory?

Name of calved 'bergy bit'

We, too, saw that amazing sight. Our guide just called them ';shooters,'; but there may be more technical term.

Name of calved 'bergy bit'

Not surprisingly the glaciers calve (break off) and if the part that falls into the water is of any size it is generally refered to as an iceberg. Smaller ones are ice flows. Most of my glacier time has been on land locked glaciers, but I took a quick look and found

i. Growler 鈥?the size of a car.

ii. Bergy Bit 鈥?Roughly the size of a 32 foot boat.

iii. Small berg 鈥?Roughly the size of a 200 foot ship

iv. Medium berg 鈥?the size of an oil platform

v. Large berg 鈥?size of an oil tanker

For a beautiful display of the many kinds of glacier, take a look at

鈥sgs.gov/of/鈥laciertypes.html

If you have kids to teach about glaciers, here is a great outline:

鈥regonstate.edu/suitcases/icebergs_seaice/l鈥?/a>

Thanks to you both. Shooters was the name I was after. It was quite spectacular to see a huge chunk of ice surface with enough momentum to enable it to move several hundred yards from the main glacier at 1 or 2 mph.

Cheers

SO

Hi SouthOz

I have read your forums on your trip to alaska, sounds like we will be in alaska about the same time you were this year. What was the weather like?

We are leaving on the 18th may 07 for 5 weeks. We are going to start in the inside passage not doing a boat trip we are going to spend time in Ketichikan %26amp; in Juneau doing day trips from both locations. We are then heading to ANC for a few days then down to Seward %26amp; then onto Denali State Park %26amp; then Denali

Sorry to bore you with details but any information on what to do %26amp; recomendations would be appreaciated. We are from Albury/Wodonga NSW Love to hear from you

Chris

Hi benji (Chris)

I should have posted a JBR (Just Back Report) soon after we got back but things get away from you!!!

By way of backgorund, my wife and I decided to do a big trip for my 50th and her birthday, the day before mine. We flew JAL business class cos of the distances, and this led us to o/nite at Tokyo each way from Sydney to San Frisco (compulsory) and back (voluntary to break the trip). On the way over, from SF we went economy to Seattle and Fairbanks with Alaska Air. It was only on the last leg back from Seattle to SF we discovered you could upgrade to %26#39;first class%26#39; (read business) for US$50 for each leg (it%26#39;s in the inflight mag). It would have been money well spent on the way there after 10 hours from Tokyo to SF, time changes etc.

After a total of 26 hours in the air, plus stops, etc, we landed in Fairbanks a day before we were due to join the Cruise West tour. We had booked a room in Pikes Waterfront Lodge some months earlier and had received confirmation from the duty manager, Sheldon Fuller, who added he would ensure that we would have the same room for the second night, which was included with the tour, and that he would arrange for someone to pick us up from the airport as he would be away that weekend. Fortuantely we took a copy of his emails with us. So, being a bit tired we arrive at Fairbanks airport to no pickup. The Cruise West rep was there and once we told him we were deliberately a day early he gave us a lift to Pikes.

Pikes reception greeted us with %26#39;sorry we%26#39;re full, here%26#39;s a voucher for breakfast at the Comfort Inn, where you%26#39;ll be staying tonite%26#39; (which happened to be 50 metres from the %26#39;Showgirls%26#39; bar - I%26#39;ll leave that to your imagination). When we explained that a mistake had been made with both the pickup and the room, staff straight away said we%26#39;ll get the duty manager, Sheldon Fuller. Poor Sheldon, he never stood a chance against two seasoned travellers like us. Once we pulled out his email, he went to water and did the old salesman routine of %26#39;I don%26#39;t care what management thinks, I%26#39;ll pay for your room at the Comfort Inn!%26#39;. So at least we got a free night out of Pikes, albeit elsewhere. Pikes should learn not to overbook, although with the number of tourists moving through, I%26#39;m not surprised.

Next day we had a wander around Fairbanks, a great little place, as the rain started to fall. You may want to peek at the %26#39;ArcticCam%26#39; (http://arcticcam.com/cam/) as it gives you a view of the weather in Fairbanks and streams real time, also giving you up to date weather elsewhere. Before we left it was hitting 27C in Fairbanks. We toyed with the idea of telling friends back here when to log on to Arctic Cam at a particular time and holding up a banner saying %26#39;Hi Adelaide%26#39; but because of the date line, Friday In AK was Saturday here so we didn%26#39;t bother. It was great to see the camera and the car park, although %26#39;Players Bar and Grill%26#39; on the right hand side of the frame looked a bit seedy so we kept walking and found a great diner.

Anyway that%26#39;s enough for this post. We had a great time (remember thay measure rain in feet, not inches or centimetres, in AK) in AK from Anchorage, Denali on through the cruise and finishing at Ketchikan, so I%26#39;ll post a few more times as I get flashbacks.

David

Well SouthOz we were at the LeConte glacier just before you on the 17th August on the Sikumi.4 Aussies on that trip and 8 on the trip leaving the 25th from Petersburg.Guess they will be very good with the aussie accent now!

I will just back up your remarks.If you can afford it a small boat cruise is the way to go in the Inside Passage.Being able to get into places like LeConte is fantastic.

To all those considering using a small boat remember that virtually everything is included in the price not an expensive add on as on a large boat.When you take that into consideration it really isnt overly expensive.