For the cheese called "sérac", see
Ziger. For the mountain, see
Le Sérac.
A serac (/sɛˈrækˌˈsɛræk/) (from
Swiss Frenchsérac) is a block or column of glacial
ice, often formed by intersecting
crevasses on a
glacier. Commonly house-sized or larger, they are dangerous to
mountaineers, since they may topple with little warning. Even when stabilized by persistent cold weather, they can be an impediment to glacier travel.
Seracs are found within an
icefall, often in large numbers, or on ice faces on the lower edge of a hanging glacier.[1] Notable examples of the overhanging glacier edge type are well-known obstacles on some of the world's highest mountains, including
K2 at "
The Bottleneck" and
Kanchenjunga on the border of India and Nepal. Significant seracs in the
Alps are found on the northeast face of
Piz Roseg, the north face of the
Dent d'Hérens, and the north face of
Lyskamm.
Incidents
On a 1969–1970 Japanese expedition to
Mount Everest, Kyak Tsering was killed by a falling serac.[2]
In October 2018, nine climbers from South Korea were killed at
Mount Gurja basecamp in Nepal from a gust of wind, driven by falling seracs and snow.[5]