February 20th - Well earned rest but a tale to tell

Alan here: position

Hope you have not missed our dispatch too much. Today is a rest and relocation day. Funnily enough even though we have loads of time, neither of Chris or I have rushed to write the blog. This is not just because we are tired but I think that the length of the day yesterday and its superlatives leave us struggling to know just where to start to do it justice. As I write we are negotiating a huge expanse of ice bergs, mostly about the size of a large car to the size of a bus. By some combination of current and wind the bergs have spaced themselves out in almost a perfect line running from shore to the horizon and about five miles wide. One strange aspect of this area of ice is the noise. There is an almost constant popping and cracking of the ice as we motor by - just like the sound made when dropping ice cubes into a gin and tonic. By looking at the radar we can see out the other side of this ice obstacle course. The sun glinting in the water and sparkling off the bergs is still captivating but there is only so long you can be on deck
even with three layers of fleece and a duvet jacket. The temperature has dropped below freezing during the day for the first time in the trip. The water temperature still around minus one. However, the wheelhouse with its wrap around windows has a conservatory affect and its the most appealing location on the boat. The galley is the warmest but humid and with its small
porthole not offering a view. I was going to say not a worthwhile view but who is going to complain about the scenery with small ice bergs drifting passed.

Anyway, back to yesterday. It was great to be in a group with Chris again, this time with guide Mark. I had hoped that we would be off to climb something but the decision was to ski tour with the aim to achieve first ascents of what we had unimaginatively called peaks six and seven. After the usual major sprackle trying to get four people living in a rabbit hutch find
their gear, have breakfast and make lunch, two hours had gone before I stuck my head above deck. I doubt if you could believe my incredulity at the sight of about one hundred people standing on what I had started to think of as our Antarctica. We had not seen anyone else for a week and here was two bus loads having disgorged from a tourist icebreaker. From the Evohe they looked like giant penguins sprawling over the ice.

Once ashore, as we emptied all our climbing and skiing gear from our Zodiac, the scene became even more surreal. The small rocky bay had about 30 Adelie Penguins doing their best to go about their business, which seemed to comprise concentrating on just staying upright. They flap their arms wildly like some acrobat tight rope walker. They are so funny you just can't stop
laughing at their antics, natural performers one and all. So here we have giant grey haired and nylon wrapped Tourist Penguins mixed with mostly fleece covered and ski booted climbers sharing a small beach with the indigenous feathered species. All three groups almost studiously trying to avoid each other which was quite clearly impossible. I even noticed a switch in focus as we roped up and skied off. The Tourist Penguins started to video and photograph us. Clearly, offering a temporary reprise for their cameras from icebergs and penguins. It turned out that one of our guides, Luis knew a tour guide on the opposing camp and learned that the Antarctic circle route immediately south of us had been blocked by ice and hence the need for the diversion to our part of the world. The extra ice this early in the year is not an indication that winter is near by, actually the opposite, it has been so mild that more ice than normal has broken off the ice cliffs and glaciers and with the light winds just spread itself across the navigable channels blocking the route even to the tourist icebreaker.We were all glad to put a couple of hundred meters behind us and enjoy the solitude of the peaks and glaciers around Prospect Point once more. As we skied upwards, Luis joined us with Dan and Andrew on the rope. The guides decided that all six would join force. So split into two teams of three, we skied roped together over the crevassed lower slopes of the glacier leaving the ocean behind. A couple of hours of skiing brought us to the base of a ramp which looked like leading up to a col between peaks six and seven, giving us access to both. Now for the really sweaty bit. The day had started in glorious sun. In the middle of a glacier the sun's rays become concentrated and even Antarctica starts to get too hot. However, the option to strip off is not possible. You would fry in an hour. So up we skied and up we sweated. The slope angle requiring Mark to zig zag to make it slightly easier, picking a route between crevasses at the same time. So up we heaved with the thought of two first ascents. We all joked about possible names for them. It was Chloe's birthday, she is a crew member and like the others work hard to keep the ship running and us fed. So a theme on here name set us thinking. While this was going on Mark suddenly called a halt and told us to keep the rope tight, a sure sign of crevasse danger. He gingerly crept forward, feeling the snow. Kicking it with his skis or probing it with his ski pole. We moved forward another couple of meters and a change of course.
This extra height allowed me to see the problem. The entire shoulder we had skied up was separated from the col by an enormous crevasse. While these can look magical with the multitude of blues in the ice and the snow covered
dropping lips, they are a real danger and as this one had no snow bridges and was at its narrowest two meters wide it brought the end of our summit dreams. We could no longer access either peak six or seven. While this was disappointing the instruction to remove the skins from our skis signalled by far my favourite part of skiing, descent. Of course this time would be different. We had large packs on our back, the snow was a strange mix of thin power on spring snow but with a firm base. With a huge choice of lines to ski and only crevasses to avoid we all chose our own fresh line. For all of us the first turn on this moderately steep slope was suspect, caused by the pack but soon we were into the rhythm of the turn and whoops of delight spread across all six. The wind in our faces from speed an extra joy. The run came to an end all to soon end but the look behind us at the beautiful line of s curves all the way down the mountain gave deep satisfaction.

Time to get the skins back on the skis. We had to rethink our objective. It was decided to cross the two mile wide glacier and attempt a snow ascent of an unnamed peak to the west. Had we thought far enough ahead it might have been peak ten or eleven. After an hour or so of gently uphill skiing we hit the steeper stuff. The snow on the slope kept settling with a crump under
our feet which kept guide Mark on his toes but after a about two hours we moved off the steep shoulder onto a gentle rise and eventually the summit.
We all shook hands and gazed in continued surprise at the view. Mark laughed as he peered through his camera viewfinder that he could not decide what to photograph as literally all 360 degrees around us spectacular scenery. You could choose between icebergs and ocean, ocean and mountain, or mountain and glacier. With all options in between possible. The air was flat calm and with only our thermals on it seemed incredible that here we were in
Antarctica. We ate lunch and again joked about a name for the peak. Once the unsuitable ones were ruled out we decided to call it Lady Barnett Peak in honour of Chloe our birthday girl crewmember, which I think is rather sweet.

Chris here: As yesterday was such a long day it's now my turn to take over the relay of writing this log. We spent some time drinking in the views at the top of our new peak and then set off down. As we were skiing down the same land we had skied up there was little danger of crevasses, Mark led the way and pointed out safe lines for all of us. The snow conditions were
perfect - fresh powder on top of a firm base. The whooping and shouting as we cruised down this was even louder than on the previous run. Andrew Nolan had a huge smile on his face as he came to a halt at the bottom having carved some excellent telemark turns - he reckons the best turns of his life. At the bottom of the slope we debated what next. It was 4.30 pm and
the Evohe was calling after an already long day of skiing. However even more of a pull was the potential of another first ascent at the head of the glacier. Mark's estimate of 45 minutes to the summit encouraged the doubters to give it a go. We set off in glorious sunshine skinning up the
gently sloping glacier towards the steep slope to the summit. Alan was getting annoyed about having to ski roped up again. Mark cured this by letting Alan have a turn at the front. For some reason after this Alan was quite happy with skiing roped up. As the slope got steeper we went back to having Mark at the front and Luis' group breaking the trail. The pace was unrelenting in a bowl of snow with the sun blazing on our backs - it was incredibly hot and we were all starting to run short of water. However another 45 minutes of toil brought us to the foot of the summit dome at 6.30 pm - Mark's original estimate had been deliberately optimistic! For the
second time today we were brought to a halt by a huge crevasse. We skied around the base of the summit zone looking for a bridge and finding one - unfortunately it was not secure - a slight settlement under Mark caused a careful retreat. Other potential routes to the summit were overhung with dangerous ice cliffs. Clearly the safest option was to stop the ascent and
content ourselves with only one first ascent today.

Skiing down from this mountain was initially not as joyous as from the other two. The sun was starting to set and the snow now had a frozen crust - along with tired legs this led to a careful descent. One hidden crevasse on the descent cause some anxiety but was safely bypassed. After this the gentle slope of the glacier led us towards the sea and our pick up by zodiac dinghy. The scene of skiers on the glacier leading towards the setting sun with mountains in the background and icebergs in the sea was indescribably beautiful. Skiing carefully through the crevassed area at the foot of the glacier we arrived at the beach again to be investigated by one nosy Adelie with the rest of the Adelies looking but keeping a healthy distance. Back on the Evohe we had a well earned dinner and swapped stories of tired legs and powder turns. After dinner we sang Happy Birthday to Chloe and toasted her with a few glasses of wine.

Today we had a rest day as the Evohe motored to Vernadsky. We are now safely anchored and looking forward to a climbing day tomorrow weather permitting. Yesterday was an incredible day - long, tiring, sunny, fun and all with a backdrop of mountains, sea and icebergs. Definitely a day I will remember for a long, long time/