Here are some various items that relate to this site. If you have anything to contribute that you feel would be relevant here, write me at greg@abbottandhast.com. Thanks. Here is a news article about a tragic accident on Matanuska. This just goes to show how dangerous it really is out there. Teen Dies On Alaskan Glacier Anchorage, Alaska, July 14, 1999 -- A teenage hiker taking a mountaineering course apparently fell to his death down a deep, water-filled hole in an Alaska glacier after he went to get water from a stream. Thomas Nazzaro, 17, of Durham, New Hampshire, disappeared the evening of July 11 on Matanuska Glacier. The search for Nazzaro was called off after searchers on the Matanuska Glacier failed to find any trace of the missing hiker, said Alaska State Trooper First Sgt. Paul Burke. Troopers even tried dropping a remote camera 250 feet (75 meters) down into the glacial hole, called a "moulin," but found that the gap continued even deeper, Burke said. Officials were unsure of the depth of the hole, or how far Nazzaro fell. "It is my belief that he is in that moulin or underneath that glacier," he said. It would have been impossible for Nazzaro to survive both the fall and the exposure to the extremely cold water that was rushing into the moulin, Burke said. It also appeared unlikely that searchers would ever recover the teen's body, he said. "The likelihood we will recover Mr. Nazzaro is remote, given the recovery capabilities we now have," he said. Nazzaro was taking part in a glacier-crossing expedition organized by the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS). He was last seen leaving the group's camp at the 2,300-foot (700-meter) elevation of the glacier. The Matanuska Glacier, a 27-mile-long (43-kilometer-long) river of ice, is about 100 miles (160 kilometers) northeast of Anchorage. It is a popular destination for sightseers, ice climbers and mountaineering classes. Nazzaro is believed to have fallen into a swift stream from which he was trying to collect water, Burke said. The teen's half-filled water pail was found at the side of the stream, he said. Most likely, Burke said, the water carried Nazzaro a few feet into the moulin, which is about seven feet wide at the glacier's surface. He was not wearing crampons, a helmet or ropes or using an ice ax, Burke said. Nazzaro was among 12 students and three instructors on the month-long NOLS expedition, which included the ascent of a 12,000-foot (3,600-meter) mountain. The accident came at the end of the expedition. If you enjoyed this site, there are some films you should see if you haven't already done so. I highly recommend "The Edge" and "Alive," which should be available at almost any video rental store. They are both excellent survival stories that also contain beautiful scenery. If you know of other films I should see, let me know. "The Edge" stars Alec Baldwin and Anthony Hopkins in a story about a millionaire and his employees on a photo shoot in Alaska, where their small aircraft crashes in the wilderness. Not only are they forced to survive as they attempt to return, but they must repeatedly face off with a grizzly bear. The bear attack scenes are grippingly realistic. The movie was actually filmed in Banff, Canada, and features some spectacular footage. Some of the interesting dialogue delves into the psychology of survival. "Alive" is the amazing true story of a group of South American athletes whose plane crashes in the Andes Mountains on the way to a sports event. The survivors are stranded for more than three months and must endure terrible conditions and the dark thoughts of their ensuing fate. One scene alone makes this film worth seeing. The leader of a three-man expedition to explore their surroundings caves in through the ice where a layer of snow has covered a massive crevice. This is an awesome story of will power.