Say goodbye to Colombia's glaciers - Global Post - Salon.com

Upon reaching the 16,000-foot summit, team members dug into the snow to collect samples. Colombia had just gone through 18 months of cold temperatures and massive precipitation, provoked by La Niña weather phenomenon. Thanks to La Niña, the top of Santa Isabel had accumulated five more feet of snow.

Even better, the samples indicated the snow was turning into ice which would help preserve the glacier. Still, La Niña is over. Warmer weather is on the way and Ceballos said the sudden snow buildup may not endure.

In fact, Ceballos was so concerned about protecting the ice on the summit that his exhausted team members spent their last hour on the peak carefully shoveling snow back into all the holes they had dug.