Glen Poulsen scopes out a serac in the Horcones Valley of Aconcagua. Working my way back to Jackson today. Man…what a wild last few weeks it’s been. Some of it seems like a lifetime ago, other parts…will live in my memory banks forever. Before I get on with telling the story of Aconcagua and easing […]
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Back at basecamp… …and the weather determined it was not meant to be. Steve called this morning and the team has returned to base camp from Camp Two and a half. The weather over the last couple days has been challenging – cloudy with the winds bringing the temps. down to approximately minus 40F with […]
Headed up to Camp Two and a Half! Well, despite some serious weather obstacles, the team has decided to move higher still! Steve called today to report that the team has decided to continue up to Camp Two and a half tomorrow, even after spending a full day in the tent yesterday, enduring “nuclear winds”. […]
Headed up the Mountain! Steve called yesterday to report that the team has now moved up to Camp One (and a half), located a little over 18,000 ft. The team is doing well – everyone is feeling strong, and the plan is for the team to either take a rest day today or start shuttling […]
I talked to Steve again yesterday, and unfortunately the team has been stymied in their attempts to move higher on the mountain because of the wind. Apparently, on Wednesday, it was -25F on the Summit, with a wind chill bringing the temp down to -60F – enough to keep the team in base camp for […]
Randokitty here, again for Randosteve… Steve called this morning to say that their “recon. ski” went great yesterday, and that they actually found some great snow! The wind was howling this morning though, and so the team is taking a rest day. So far, everyone on the team is acclimatizing very well and their “pulse […]
Randokitty here for Randosteve: Steve called today, on the satellite phone, from base camp. The two day trek in to base camp went well, and the team is doing great, settling into camp at over 14, 000ft. At three points along the trek in, the team members’ oxygen levels were tested and all three members […]
All right! We, Glen Poulsen, Kim Havell and myself, are on our way to Los Penitentes today, and the next stage of our adventure to climb and ski Aconcagua. Los Penitentes is the staging area before heading into basecamp. Los Penitentes is also where we load up the mules that will be carrying our heavy […]
Well, after finishing one adventure, it’s right on to the next and I am already missing RandoKitty…big time! Now, I am in Mendoza, Argentina, to attempt to climb and ski the Polish Glacier on Cerro Aconcagua which tops out at 6962m (22,975′). I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the good weather that has been such […]
Photo: Scott Fennell. For our last day of skiing in Antarctica, the ship brought us to some mellow terrain around Discovery Bay on Greenwich Island, where the emphasis seemed to be on seeing seals and penguins, rather than skiing. And since it was long night of partying on the ship for many the night before, […]
Photo Scott Fennell It has been really hard to believe all the good weather we have been having, and although it snowed a little on us late in the afternoon today, it has been more or less blue skies for the majority of the trip. I haven’t worm my Gore-Tex clothing once so far and […]
Though the day started out a bit greybird, it looked as though the sun would burn through the clouds as we shuttled to the shore of Livingston Island to ski yesterday. The highest peaks on the island push over 5K’, but they are heavily glaciated and crevassed, making travel extremely dangerous and difficult. Therefore, our […]
11 o’clock sunset over the Antarctic Peninsula. Everyone knows that traveling in the mountains is a dangerous activity, add in glaciers and the absolute remoteness of Antarctica, and even the smallest accident can turn into a life threatening scenario. So before I go any further, I must give a huge shout out to the IceAxe […]
Another day of beautiful sunshine and amazing terrain yesterday and after traveling through the Neumayer Channel overnight, we awoke to the mountains referred to as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs towering over the ocean and the Clipper Adventurer. One of the most beautiful places I have ever been. Photo Kellie Okonek. After a quick […]
Randosteve skis above Cierva Cove. Photo: Scott Fennell. In my world, and any other fan of backcountry skiing, today was a day dreams are made of. After being cooped up on the Clipper Adventurer for two days crossing the Drake Passage, the clouds parted and the winds eventually mellowed to allow for an amazing day […]
We’ve been battling a pretty strong 30 knot headwind for the past 24 hours and it has slowly put us behind schedule. But this morning, we finally got within sight of the Antarctic Peninsula and everyone was jazzed beyond belief to wake up and see land. Morning light on Livingston Island. Because of the delay, […]
Cape petrals, one of the many seabirds following the ship across the Drake Passage. Seabirds only land on terra firma to lay their eggs or mate. Today is our second full day on the ship crossing the Drake Passage. The seas are much mellower and I think nearly everyone is feeling better, myself included. Though […]
Heading towards the Clipper Adventurer. Wow, walking out onto the pier yesterday afternoon to board the ship, the energy was amazing and I could literally feel the blood coursing through my veins with excitement. My body was shaking with nervous energy and I think the everyone was feeding off of each other, waiting for the […]
Skiing above Ushuaia, Argentina. Alright folks, this is the day I have been looking forward to for the past few months. It is the day our ship sets off across the Drake Passage, towards some of the most insane ski terrain in the world with IceAxe Expeditions. Traveling across the Drake Passage should be very […]
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 […]