2021 Mt. St. Helens Crater Glacier Caving Expedition

Mt. St. Helens, Washington

It was quite an honour to be invited on the 2021 expedition to Mt. St. Helens as the media guy. I was invited for my glacier cave experience, media expertise, mountain skill and as a reliable person to have on such an expedition. Group dynamics on such trips can be fragile so it’s important to invite the right people. The crater is closed off to the general public and only scientific expeditions are allowed making this invite extra special. The ground we were walking on was no more than 40 yrs old and some of the caves we explored and not been visited by humans.

I had originally hoped to work with Michael Werner on shooting the project, but in the end, the entire project was left for me to shoot and record. It was a big responsibility and a challenging one in many regards. We were helicoptered up to base camp, where we spent a week on the glacier. Challenges included keeping batteries charged, racing ahead of the scientists and guides to shoot them approaching, filming in wet, steamy dark caves, and the elements in general. As a group, we almost lost some of the tents due to a combination of extreme glacier melt and high winds. Tent poles were broken, the fabric was torn, but by a group effort of shovelling through the night, we were able to keep the tents from being completely destroyed.

I’m very proud of how the show turned out and Michael Werner did a great job editing as well as Joe Hansen narrating. I hope you enjoy the show “Why Earth’s Newest Glacier Is Inside An Active Volcano” on PBS Terra.

You can also see some of my photography in Geo Magazine. It was described to me as the European version of National Geographic Magazine. I’ll post more when I find out what month it will be published.

I’d like to thank Phantom Rain Wetsuits, Harken Industrial, True Werk clothing, Cascade Rescue, NASA Jet Propulsion Labs, National Speleological Society and everyone else that helped make the trip a success.