Fortunately, the probability of sandwich theft is low today - we'll be down the mountain before noon.

We begin our descent and traverse diagonally across the face of the glacier, a white cliff about 500 feet high. Our boots stomp a foot deep in the snow, leaving a virgin trail across the surface. It's exhausting.

The sun's warmth has made the glacier more dangerous, but it has also made the mountain come alive. Water trickles underneath the snow. Insects swirl about our faces. Steam hisses from rocks drying in the sun.

We pack up our gear and descend along a trail. On the adjacent Palmer run, snowboarders are "shralping the gnar" and doing stunts off a ramp. It's turning into a beautiful, clear sunny day on Mount Hood - perfect for some activities, but, over time, the worst possible weather for the life of a glacier.

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according to science express, the world's melting glaciers could add between four and 10 inches to the global sea level this century.

currently about five miles in length, the pasterze is austria's longest glacier, and it has shrunk 1.2 miles since it was first measured in 1889.

peru's cordillera blanca is the tropics' most ice-covered mountain range and home to the ururashraju glacier, which has retreated three-tenths of a mile since 1986.

because of the receding glaciers in europe, more and more european ski teams go to oregon to ski mount hood.