Picture of the Day: The Berg Glacier

THE BERG GLACIER

The Berg Glacier feeds into Berg lake, which is located on the Robson River and within Mount Robson Provincial Park in the Canadian Rockies. The lake and glacier are at the doorstep of the north face of Mount Robson (3,954m/12,972ft) which is the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies.

Both glacier and lake can be accessed via the 19km Berg Lake Trail. Greater detail about the trail and how to get to Berg lake can be found here. For you Google Earthers, you can punch in the following coordinates to check out the Glacier: 53°07’00”N, 119°08’00”W (just scroll a bit north to see where it feeds into the lake).

via Jeffrey Pang on Flickr

Ice Skating the Famous Canals of Amsterdam

Photograph via cafeteriafraiche on Reddit

As the deep freeze spreads across Europe, one country that is embracing the cooler weather is The Netherlands. With temperatures dropping to around -7 degrees Celsius (19 degrees Fahrenheit) earlier this week, many of Amsterdam’s iconic canals have frozen over, allowing residents and tourists to skate the city’s famed waterways. Popular canals such as Prinsengracht, Keizersgracht and Brouwersgracht have all frozen enough for people to skate on.

While skating on frozen canals is an annual occurrence for cities like Ottawa in Canada (on the Rideau Canal), it is a rarity in places like Amsterdam. So when the temperatures are right, the people flood to the ice.

The Dutch are optimistic that the temperatures may stay cold enough for the famous “Eleven Cities” aka “Elfstedentocht” speed skating race to occur. The last time the weather was cold enough for the race to happen was 15 years ago in 1997!

Elfstedentocht is the world’s largest speed skating competition and leisure skating tour at almost 200 km in length (124-miles). It is held in the province of Friesland, Netherlands and only happens when the entire course is at least 15cm thick. Approximately 15,000 participants took part in the last race. [Source: Wikipedia]

Photograph by Peter Dejong via Huffington Post

Photograph by Margaret Faber via Huffington Post

Photograph by C8H10N4O2Rush on Reddit

Photograph via Geiz on Reddit

Photograph by Peter Dejong via Huffington Post

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The Colossal Land Art of Jim Denevan [30 pics]

Photograph via JIM DENEVAN @ JIMDENEVAN.COM

Artist, surfer, chef; Jim Denevan is a man of many talents. The 50-year-old is best known for his colossal temporary land art, using natural materials to create massive scale drawings on earth, sand and ice. His sculptures are not placed in the landscape, rather, the landscape are the means of their creation. Often aerial photography or video is needed to fully grasp the final work.

Jim is also the founder and organizer of a worldwide moveable feat called Outstanding in the Field, an ambitious attempt to reconnect diners to the land and the origins of their food, and to honor the local farmers and food artisans who cultivate it. Long tables (50+ seats) are set outside at farms, ranches, and gardens, a truly magical experience.

Below we focus on his incredible artwork, which although temporary, is forever immortalized in photographic form. Be sure to check out JimDenevan.com for more information and imagery of Jim’s monumental work.

Jim Denevan’s Art on Sand

Photograph via JIM DENEVAN @ JIMDENEVAN.COM

Jim Denevan’s Art on Earth

Photograph via JIM DENEVAN @ JIMDENEVAN.COM

Jim Denevan’s Art on Ice

In March of 2010, Denevan was commissioned by The Anthropologist to create a large scale drawing on Lake Baikal in Siberia. The drawing is the world’s largest single artwork. A documentary of the journey and artwork called Art Hard was released in 2011.