Mary Vaux Walcott and the Vanishing Glaciers of the Northwest

As soon as Mary Vaux arrived in the Canadian Rockies in the 1880s, she began photographing and documenting one glacier in particular, year after year. The Illecillewaet Glacier, like so many of the world’s glaciers, is now a fraction of its original size.   

Cascade PBS’s resident historian Knute Berger introduced viewers to Mary Vaux Walcott and her work in a recent episode of the Mossback’s Northwest video series, but there’s much more left to learn. 

In this episode of Mossback, Berger joins co-host Stephen Hegg to discuss Vaux’s life and legacy as Canada's first glaciologist, as well as the dramatic retreat of the Northwest’s many glaciers due to climate change. Plus, we tag along with the Mossback’s Northwest video team as they search for views of the most glaciated mountain in the lower 48: Mount Rainier.  

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Credits

Hosts: Stephen Hegg, Knute Berger

Producer: Sara Bernard

Story editors: Sarah Menzies, Adam Brown

Studio recording: Roger Basquette