Requiem of Ice - A Visually Stunning Documentary of a Disappearing Ice Cave

Being a native of the Pacific Northwest, photographer and filmmaker Ben Canales of Uncage The Soul was deeply concerned about the rapid melting of the Sandy Glacier Ice Cave. Wanting to create widespread awareness for this issue, Ben and his team spent over a year filming in the cave system. The resulting film is both visually beautiful as well as eye opening. 

The Sandy Glacier Ice Caves lie deep inside the cold slopes of Mount Hood, Oregon. They are believed to be the largest glacier caves in the continental United States, but that is quickly changing. Experts estimate that the caves are melting at such an alarming rate, the caves could be non existent ten years from now. This shocking prediction prompted Ben to organize a team to document these beautiful ice caves before it was too late. 

Over the last 12 months, the team has made 5 trips to the caves, each time with hundreds of pounds of photo, time-lapse, and video equipment. According to the blog post that accompanies the short film, this was a very difficult film to create. 

The Sandy Glacier Ice Caves is one of the most challenging environments to film in. Not only does its remote location mean hauling our equipment high up on the slopes of Mt Hood, but once inside the cave, the wet, cold, dark, and dirty conditions create a myriad of complications. Additionally, the caves are very dynamic and we had to constantly be vigilant about our safety. There was a staggering amount of structural collapse and rockfall that we observed and managing risk while filming was a top priority.

Luckily for us, Ben and his team devoted the time and energy to produce this dangerous and risky film. The results are incredible, but more importantly, it helps open our eyes to a very real and very serious issue. 

Photos Used With Permission From Ungage The Soul