Mount Edith Cavell, Jasper National Park
Rising to a height of 11,033 feet, Mount Edith Cavell receives heavy snowfall, sometimes even in summer. Unable to cling to the mountain’s sheer walls, much of the snow avalanches down into the cold shadows of the northeast face. Here it collects on ledges, in the cirque and on the valley floor and is transformed into glacier ice.
Angel Glacier forms in a large bowl, or cirque, largely hidden from view. Some ice breaks over the vertical cliffs, forming the angel’s 120 foot thick wings; the remainder plunges down a steep gully, forming the body. The constant movement of the glacier sometimes causes an ice avalanche, so it is dangerous to climb below this hanging glacier.
