More skiing on the Marshall Glacier, Ushuaia

More radness in Ushuaia.

Another day of skiing up in the Marshall Glacier zone yesterday. This time it was with Thomas Laakso and Adam Clark. Thomas is the ski category manager for Black Diamond Equipment and Adam Clark is a pretty well known photographer in the ski world. Skiing up to the Marshall is pretty easy and it’s less than a one hundred yard walk from where the taxi drops you off to where you click into your skis. Today, while we were skinning up, a four-wheeler passed us shuttling some hikers up I‘m not really into the motorized travel thing in general, but and I kind of just wondered how high they could, or were allowed to go. It really seemed weird to see a four-wheeler traveling on the snow in such a beautiful place, kind of like snowmobiles in the Tetons I guess, but to each his own…right?

Four-wheelers and skinners co-exist.

Anyway, we toured up the canyon and then to the east up a slowly ascending draw. Following steeper terrain, we continued up an apron to a couloir that doglegged to the left and looked like a fun ski. Bootpacking further, we gained a tighter shot that brought us to the ridge and views of an insane amount of peaks that just waited to be skied. If only there was more time. Anyway, being with Adam, we set up some angles for photographing, and waited for the sun to pop out from behind the clouds. I like ski photography, but the waiting around part can get old and usually I just say screw it when there is a lot of lolly-dagging going on. BUT, I was patient and just enjoyed the scenery, which there was plenty of.

Adam Clark photographs Thomas Laakso in his element.

The skiing was pretty good and Thomas popped a little air off a wind lip that looked like it Adam had cool angle on it from where I was positioned. I skied a face a bit more to the skiers left, which was fun and the sluff created a cool waterfall feeling as I linked turns. Adam followed and looked like her was having fun. It’s always fun to get pictures of photographers skiing, since they are usually the ones on the other side of the lens. We continued down the apron and chilled for a bit and soaked in the sun, which felt great.

We had scoped out a steeper shot on the way in and after eating and drinking a bit, we toured back to the west and slowly ascended a large slope until we gained a ridgeline. After referencing a photo I had taken on the way in on my camera, we determined where the entrance was. Adam skied down towards it and scrambled up on a rocky outcropping which seemed to really give him a good angle to shoot from.

Adam Clark gets into position above a steep couloir.

I dropped in first and the snow was great at first. But as the line funneled into the couloir and got narrower, things changed quickly and soon the snow was wicked firm. After skiing through the choke, I pulled over and took a closer look at the snow, which had a bluish tint to it. Not really what you want as a skier and Thomas opted for a different route in search of softer snow. Adam was game and joined me in the couloir making deliberate turns making sure he didn’t loose it. Calling it quits, we decided that was enough for today and cruised on back to the little café at the bottom and enjoyed a beer in the sun with many others on the IceAxe trip.

While eating dinner later in the day, we watched as the Clipper Adventurer, our vessel for our cruise to Antarctica, pulled into port and you could just feel the tension and excitement rise amongst the group. The ship is scheduled to leave on Thursday, but we are still waiting on the official word from the port to give it the go ahead. Let’s hope it does soon!