This is probably my favorite photo (of my own making) of 2020. The intense winds of Abraham Lake Alberta are renowned for scouring the snow off the lake revealing amazing patterns of methane bubbles, but they also create wild ice pile ups on the shore. At first glance it just looks like a jumbled mess, but when you get down in it, like on your belly hiding from the wind, these piles of ice reveal some interesting forms, including these crazy bits of snow covered by wind shaped ice. They looked to me almost like petroglyphs carved in the snow and preserved under the ice. Let's call them "Glacioglyphs". And then there is the horse's head poking through on the right. I loved that bit. A magnificent place that fired my imagination almost like no other. Sort of a Canadian version of the sandstone slot canyons.

I have an amusing story to relate, which should serve as yet another cautionary tale for anyone shooting in similar environments. First of all, the ice is incredibly smooth, and the wind here truly is ferocious, blowing a pretty constant 20-40mph the whole time we were there. On this morning, as I said, I was down on my belly trying to line up comps among these ice flows. Just moments after taking this picture, I removed my outer gloves and placed them on my bag for just a second, so I could adjust the camera position when a gust of wind swept through and grabbed one of the gloves, sending it sliding along the ice.

I jumped up and then watched dismayed as it rapidly slid away down the icy embankment. I was prepared to give it up when it caught on a snow ridge so I started to move towards it, a bit reluctantly since I didn't think I had much chance to retrieve it but had to give it a go. The wind then decided to have some fun with me and flung it further away just as I was about to reach down to grab it.Annoyed, I decided to run after it to see if I could grab it.

Again it snagged on a bit of snow and I hustled towards it, only for it to whip away from me as I was almost upon it. Now, I had a decision to make as it was nearly out on the open ice of the lake where surely I would have no chance. To set the stage some more, I've got heavy boots on and ice crampons slipped over the boots, and the ice on the lake is extremely smooth and slippery. I had to decide whether to really put on the chase and sprint after it before it hit the smooth lake surface, or whether to be smart and just give it up.

Of course, you know I chose the dumb route or I wouldn't be writing this. So off I go full sprinting for a good 20 seconds across the broken ice surface praying the wind would break for a second. Well, the wind did slow just enough to let me think I could catch it just as the glove slid on to the lake. I put it in to top 100 meter olympic sprint gear, getting closer, and then the glove starts picking up speed and I'm almost ready to accept the bronze medal for my efforts, when I see a small patch of snow lying ahead and realize I have one last chance. I'm fully committed to the chase now, it's do or, well you know, I probably won't die but it is sure gonna hurt like hell when I inevitably fall on my ass. It's not *quite* the stupidest thing I've ever done. But it is inexplicably stupid for a 50-something year old man to be risking broken bones, not to mention looking like a complete idiot, sprinting after a $25 glove in a wind tunnel. The glove catches, ever so briefly, on the snow patch. I am 5 meters away. I have a second or two at most. So I launch in a glorious full-body dive across the ice, sliding over that glove like it's home base in the 9th inning of game 7 of the World Series. So, there you have it. Don't put your damn clothes down for a second in this kind of environment! I was pretty damned lucky that I came away with a story and no hospital bills. I only wish there'd been a video camera catching the action.

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Make:	RICOH IMAGING COMPANY, LTD.
Model:	PENTAX K-1
Exposure:	0.25 sec (1/4)
Aperture:	f/18.0
ISO Speed:	100
Focal Length:	15 mm
Lens:	HD PENTAX-D FA 15-30mm F2.8ED SDM WR