Question: How do glaciers form?

Luke Williams answered on 11 Mar 2018:

When snow falls on an area, and stays there long enough, it will become ice. This is why when we had lots of snow recently, even in areas that only got a little snow had problems. It was cold enough for the snow to freeze and become ice.

Now, in an area that has snow all year, older snow becomes crushed under the weight of new snow. The layer at the top will still be “normal” fresh snow, but the further down you go, the more crushed the snow becomes, and it will turn to ice.

Eventually, the weight will be so great that the entire thing will start moving down a hill, and there you have a glacier. Just a really REALLY big icecube moving down a hill.