This was a bad idea from the start.
Almost everyone knows how dangerous icebergs are. After all, one of these giant chunks was responsible for sinking the Titanic and causing hundreds of deaths back in 1912. Most people associate the dangers of icebergs as being beneath the surface where an unsuspecting ship can have massive holes poked in the hull below the waterline.
However, it turns out that icebergs are dangerous in other ways too. Today's viral video aptly demonstrates just another reason why you should avoid them at all costs. This footage comes to us from Norwegian waters near the Svalbard island chain far up in the Arctic Ocean. It is hard to get much farther north than this unless you are Santa Claus.
In any case, these explorers decide it is a great idea to take some ice picks and shoes and try to summit to the top of an iceberg. We are not sure what the people in this video are saying, but it does not really matter. The iceberg suddenly tips over sending the climbers into the frigid waters and the panic from the people on the boat is universal.
Icebergs are freshwater ice, and they are chunks that are broken off a larger block. Usually, an ice shelf like those found in the Arctic, or a glacier. It is worth noting that because icebergs are constantly melting, they are often unstable. And, as the guys in this video found out, are quite prone to flipping once they become too top heavy.
It is hard to determine if these guys put too much extra weight on the berg and helped cause the flip. Whatever the case may be, this was a bad idea from the get-go. From the video's description, it seems the two climbers survived. Hopefully, they learned a lesson.
Not only were the explorers in danger of being crushed by falling ice. They were also in danger from hypothermia after being plunged into icy waters. They were lucky the boat was close to respond. Let that be a lesson to observe and admire icebergs from afar if you are ever lucky enough to see one!
For more outdoor content from Travis Smola, be sure to follow him on Twitter and check out his Geocaching and Outdoors with Travis YouTube channels.
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