A serac (from Swiss French ''sérac'') is a block or column of glacial ice, often formed by intersecting

crevasse A crevasse is a deep crack, that forms in a glacier or ice sheet that can be a few inches across to over 40 feet. Crevasses form as a result of the movement and resulting stress associated with the shear stress generated when two semi-rigid p ...

s on a

glacier A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such a ...

. Commonly house-sized or larger, they are dangerous to

mountaineer Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, a ...

s, since they may topple with little warning. Even when stabilized by persistent cold weather, they can be an impediment to glacier travel. Seracs are found within an icefall, often in large numbers, or on ice faces on the lower edge of a hanging glacier. Notable examples of the overhanging glacier edge type are well-known obstacles on some of the world's highest mountains, including K2 at " The Bottleneck" and

Kanchenjunga Kangchenjunga, also spelled Kanchenjunga, Kanchanjanghā (), and Khangchendzonga, is the third highest mountain in the world. Its summit lies at in a section of the Himalayas, the ''Kangchenjunga Himal'', which is bounded in the west by the ...

on the border of India and Nepal. Significant seracs in the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...

are found on the northeast face of Piz Roseg, the north face of the Dent d'Hérens, and the north face of

Lyskamm Lyskamm (german: Liskamm, formerly ''Lyskamm'', literally "comb of the Lys"), also known as Silberbast (literally "silver bast"), is a mountain () in the Pennine Alps lying on the border between Switzerland and Italy. It consists of a five-kilo ...

Incidents

* On a 1969–1970 Japanese expedition to

Mount Everest Mount Everest (; Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation (snow hei ...

, Kyak Tsering was killed by a falling serac. * In 1990, an earthquake caused a block of serac to fall off Lenin Peak, triggering an avalanche which hit a camp, killing 43 people. * In the August

2008 K2 disaster The 2008 K2 disaster occurred on 1 August 2008, when 11 mountaineers from international expeditions died on K2, the second- highest mountain on Earth. Three others were seriously injured. The series of deaths, over the course of the Friday as ...

, the collapse of large seracs was responsible for at least 8 of the 11 mountaineers' deaths. * The April

2014 Mount Everest ice avalanche On 18 April 2014, seracs on the western spur of Mount Everest failed, resulting in an ice avalanche that killed sixteen climbing Sherpas in the Khumbu Icefall. This was the same icefall where the 1970 Mount Everest disaster had taken place. ...

responsible for the deaths of 16 climbers was caused when a large serac broke off. * In October 2018, nine climbers from South Korea were killed at Mount Gurja basecamp in Nepal from a gust of wind, driven by falling seracs and snow. * In July 2022, a serac collapse on the

Marmolada Glacier Marmolada (Ladin: ''Marmolèda''; German: ''Marmolata'', ) is a mountain in northeastern Italy and the highest mountain of the Dolomites (a section of the Alps). It lies between the borders of Trentino and Veneto. The Marmolada is an ultra- ...

in Italy killed eleven people and injured eight others.

Gallery

Russell glacier Greenland Serac.JPG, Serac, Russell Glacier in Greenland WinthropGlacier06.jpg, Seracs in firn at 3,050 metres (10,000 feet) on the Winthrop Glacier of Mount Rainier in Washington, USA Seracs_Bossons_P1090067.JPG, Seracs, Bossons Glacier, southeastern France Seracs Glacier Bossons P1090051.JPG, Seracs, Bossons Glacier Glacier Piloto.JPG, Seracs, Piloto Glacier, Cordillera Darwin,

Tierra del Fuego Tierra del Fuego (, ; Spanish for "Land of the Fire", rarely also Fireland in English) is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of the main island, Isla ...

Seracs-Tangra-Mountains.jpg, Seracs at

Catalunyan Saddle Catalunyan Saddle (Katalunska Sedlovina \ka-ta-'lun-ska se-dlo-vi-'na\) is a saddle of 1260 m height in the Friesland Ridge of the Tangra Mountains on Livingston Island, in the South Shetland Islands. The saddle is bounded by Lyaskovets Peak to ...

Tangra Mountains Tangra Mountains (in Bulgarian ''Тангра планина'', 'Tangra planina' \'tan-gra pla-ni-'na\) () form the principal mountain range of Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. The range had been nameless until 2 ...

Livingston Island Livingston Island (Russian name ''Smolensk'', ) is an Antarctic island in the Southern Ocean, part of the South Shetlands Archipelago, a group of Antarctic islands north of the Antarctic Peninsula. It was the first land discovered south of 60 ...

in Antarctica

References

External links

* * Glaciology {{Glaciology-stub

Incidents

Gallery

See also

References

External links