Archive for the 'Sunday Photo' Category

Sunday Photo - East Side of the Vinson Massif, Antarctica

Published
by
Andrew
on October 19, 2008
in Sunday Photo
. 1 Comment

This is a photo from a 2000/01 trip to the interior of Antarctica to climb the continent’s high point, the Vinson Massif.

Flags over the Flower Hills “landing strip.” Rat-a-tat-tat, hang on to your hat!

A big component of this trip (actually, the main component of this trip) was to make a film for NOVA while hopefully completing a first ascent of the mountain.  To do this, we had to find a new landing spot on the east side of the range and see if the pilot could pull it off.   We flew in two Turbine Otter’s (nicknamed “Twotters”) so that we could film one from the other.  I was in the film plane with the sound and camera guys and they had removed the door and fixed a tripod so they could get clear shots.  This meant we were wearing harnesses and staying clipped-in while flying as the door was just a gapping hole.

As we flew around, we found the approximate area where we wanted to land and the pilot, a very quiet Inuit man, made a first pass over the zone coming within about ten feet of the snow, which was a an endless field of rough 12 - 18″ tall frozen sustrugi.  I assumed he’d circle around to find a smoother spot, so I was surprised a moment later when he circled around and told us to hang on tight.  It suddenly dawned on me that he was actually going to try and land there.  !!!  At the end of the slightly uphill facing sustrugi field was a big rock, and beyond that, an even much bigger cliff.  I was fairly gripped about the next 60 seconds of my life.

As the plane came in for the landing, we could see the snow getting closer and closer through the open door, until suddenly…. WHAM WHAM WHAM WHAM!  I couldn’t believe the violence of the landing, but he pulled it together and we survived, although I was sure the plane was going to be somehow damaged (it wasn’t).  We jumped out and did a round of high fives, but the pilot wasn’t saying much.  He ended up radioing the other pilot to tell him that it was a really rough landing and he should try an area a few hundred yards away, which they did, for a nice smooth landing.  After about ten minutes, our pilot finally spoke and said “The was the second roughest landing I’ve ever had, and I crashed on my first roughest.”  Yikes!  We asked him why he chose to land there and he said it was because that was the spot we had pointed out on the map the day before.  Seeing how we were about to walk, ski and climb 30ish miles, a few hundred feet one way or another would have been fine. 

But, all’s well that ends well.

Behind me (I took this photo), the nearest “town” is the South Pole, which is roughly 500 miles away.

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Sunday Photo - Dater Glacier, Antarctica

Published
by
Andrew
on September 28, 2008
in Sunday Photo
. 4 Comments

I’m heading down to Antarctica (yeah!) for a ski trip in Novemember, so I have the White Continent on my mind. Today’s photo was one of my favorites from my first trip to Antarctica in 2000/2001 where we climbed a new route up the ”backside” of the Vinson Massif. 

Skiers crossing the Dater Glacier in Antarctica on their way to the summit of the Vinson massif.
Skiers crossing the Dater Glacier in Antarctica on their way to the summit of the Vinson massif.

The purpose of this trip was to make a NOVA film, which I think was called “Trapped in Ice.”  Conrad Anker was the main climber, Jon Krakauer was the historian and Dan Stone was the Glaciologist.  Dave Hahn and I were the field guides, so we got to double-haul lots of heavy loads, set up camps, cook and carry camera gear.  It was a blast.

Contrary to popular belief, Antarctica is not rip-ass cold 100% of the time, but when it is, it really is.  In this photo, we were skinning along a glacier, which was quite pleasant, but when we came within ten feet of a shadow, as Conrad said, we were entering “the steel glove of love” which meant the temps were going to drop a good 40-50 degrees once we left the sun.  Within a few feet, the temps went from casual to brutal.

Vinson, the highest point on Antarctica at right above 16,000′ is commonly referred to as the “Vinson Massif” instead of Mt. Vinson as it is kind of a huge dome with many wart-like peaklettes on top of it, which make it hard to tell exactly which one is the actual summit.

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Sunday Photo - The Caroline Face

Published
by
Andrew
on September 21, 2008
in Sunday Photo
. 2 Comments

It is one thing to read about the Caroline Face on the east side of Mt. Cook, but nothing beats standing at its base and trying to pick out a ski line down it.

The stunning Caroline Face on Aoraki (Mt. Cook), New Zealand
The stunning Caroline Face on Aoraki (Mt. Cook), New Zealand

In 2006, I took a trip down to this region of New Zealand with Chris Figenshau and Steve Romeo from Jackson Hole, and once there we met up with Kiwi local, Grant Guise (in Kiwispeak, Grant is pronounced “Grunt”). After a few days of skiing, it became obvious why New Zealand produces so many good alpinists and ski mountaineers - the conditions and mountains are burly!  Between howling winds, storms and sheets of ice, we didn’t get much done, but it is one of those areas where just being there is oftentimes enough as it is such magnificent scenery.

The tip of the Tasman Glacier can just be seen at the bottom of the photo, which leads up to the precariously placed Tasman Saddle Hut and then the Kelman hut beyond that, which is a popular starting point for alpine climbs and ski descents.  For more information on backcountry huts in New Zealand, check out the New Zealand Department of Conservation (DoC) website here.

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Sunday Photo - Little Pine Couloir, Utah

Published
by
Andrew
on September 14, 2008
in Sunday Photo
. 2 Comments
This photo of Little Pine slide path on the north side of the Little Cottonwood Canyon road leading up to Alta is a good reminder of why just saying “yes” to skiing is a good idea.
Petra Pirc followed by Fred Marmsater in Little Pine slide path, Little Cottonwood Canyon.
Petra Pirc followed by Fred Marmsater in Little Pine slide path, Little Cottonwood Canyon.

We did this as a Dawn Patrol outing, and from the start, it didn’t seem very hopeful as the valley was completely socked in with fog.  Thinking that it was just going to be a good workout, we started out from the trailhead in poor visibility, but about a third of the way into this 3,600′ beauty the visibility started to clear and we found ourselves above the inversion in beautiful weather with ideal powder snow condition on a huge south facing slope!  The hardest part about Dawn Patrolling is often just waking up, but with memories like this, it makes it a bit easier.

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Sunday Photo - AK Rager

Published
by
Andrew
on September 7, 2008
in Sunday Photo
. 0 Comments
Enduring a raging storm in a remote mountain range can be fun if you are prepared for it.
Fun & Games - Ben Ditto and Lorne Glick enjoying the scenery (or lack of it) on the Bagley Icefield. April 2008
Fun & Games - Ben Ditto and Lorne Glick enjoying the scenery (or lack of it) on the Bagley Icefield. April 2008

After flying around the Wrangell-St.Elias Mountain Range the year before, it seemed like there was excellent potential to do a combination kiting/skiing trip in the area as there is no shortage of peaks and icefields.  Our plan was to use kites to move down the Bagley Icefield, then tick off ski descents along the way.  It kind of worked, but there was either no wind, or it was a howling blizzard like in the photo above.

Alaska storms, especially in the areas right near the ocean, can dump prodigious amounts of snow in a short time and are the stuff of mountaineering legend.  This was a short but intense storm with 45mph winds for a twelve hour period - enough to bury the tents and stop us for the day, but nothing very serious in the big picture of Alaska ragers.

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Sunday Photo - Midnight Kiting in Sam Ford Fjord

Published
by
Andrew
on August 31, 2008
in Sunday Photo
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Expeditions can be a ton of hard work and heavy hauling. A friend once described this as “the blue-collar” part of the sport, which I often think about when I’m crushed with a heavy load.

Full-speed ahead in the Sam Ford Fjord area of Baffin Island, right near Swiss Bay.
Full-speed ahead in the Sam Ford Fjord area of Baffin Island, right near Swiss Bay.

This photo was taken during one of the moments when we dumped all of our heavy gear, stripped down to nothing more than skis and a kite (well, and clothes, it was cold) and went out for a mega kiting session just for the fun of it. Baffin Island is way up north in the Arctic Circle where it stays light 24 hours a day at this time of year. This photo was taken after we had eaten dinner and were getting ready to sleep, but the wind and snow conditions were so perfect that we went out for a midnight kiting session I’ll never forget.

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Sunday Photo - Patagonia

Published
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Andrew
on August 24, 2008
in Sunday Photo
. 0 Comments
Not a skiing photo, but taken in a great skiing zone.
Ben Ditto hiking in Patagonia.
Ben Ditto hiking in Patagonia.

I’m not into trekking for trekking’s sake, but the trails in Patagonia are an exception as they are so naturally beautiful, well laid-out and have stunning scenery.  In this photo, Ben and I were taking a remedial hike up to Lago Toro a few days after carrying crushing loads down from The Southern Patagonia Ice Cap.  The peak in the background is Cerro Torre and you can get a good idea of what makes it so difficult to climb - the weather moves in from the Pacific Ocean to the west (left) and slams into the towers with high winds, moisture and clouds.  While we were having a nice sunny outing in the valley below, it would be pure misery to be up on the spires on a day like this.  And this isn’t even a very bad day!

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Sunday Photo - Antarctic Peninsula

Published
by
Andrew
on August 17, 2008
in Sunday Photo
. 1 Comment

I just saw Doug Stoup (the skier in this photo) at the Outdoor Retailer Show the other day and it reminded me of this trip.

Doug Stoup twisting his way down to the Lemaire Channel.
Doug Stoup twisting his way down to the Lemaire Channel.

Antarctica has to be one of the most exotic places you could ever imagine skiing.  This is not to say that the skiing itself is off the charts, but the location, scenery and experience of being there are unbeatable.  We arrived on Skip Novak’s 48′ steel-hulled boat ”Pelagic” and although the seas were calms for most of the trip, just as we decided to land the wind kicked up and we almost had to abort our plans.  At the last second, we were able to load a Zodiac up with all of our gear, get a ride to the one and only landing spot for miles around and get dropped off in the midst of a huge penguin rookery.

Throughout the trip, we were watching and hearing whales breach below us while we were skiing, seeing Fur Seals as we went to collect snow to melt, being squawked at by angry Skua’s and watching penguins come in from a hard day in the water as we were eating dinner.  It was like camping in the best zoo in the world.

Doug is putting together another trip down to this area this upcoming fall.  It is a two week trip, Nov 20th through Oct 10th and this time he has enlisted the luxuries of a cruise ship to help out.  For further details, see Ice Axe Expeditions.

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Sunday Photo - The Evil Bunny

Published
by
Andrew
on August 10, 2008
in Sunday Photo
. 0 Comments
The Evil Bunny lives/lived halfway up the first icefall on the way up to “The Hump” in the Wrangell-St.Elias Mountains.  
Ben Ditto watching Armond DuBuque and Lorne Glick pass under the gaze of the Evil Bunny.
Ben Ditto watching Armond DuBuque and Lorne Glick pass under the gaze of the Evil Bunny.

The icefall was wall-to-wall and had a few options for getting through it, but all of them had some degree of danger, either from snow bridges, open crevasses, ice, avalanche exposure or, in the case of the Bunny, getting crushed by a massive pillar of snow.  In the end we chose to cross underneath this leaning tower of Pisa as it had the shortest, but perhaps most graphic, exposure to danger.  The actual crossing underneath the strike zone only lasted for about 15 seconds, but it was the type of thing where you hold your breath, skin as gently as possible and try to think positive thoughts.  Ben and I called it “The Bunny” as it had a slightly rabbit-like appearance from below and reminded me of the killer bunny in the Monty Python movie.  Fortunately, it stayed in place.

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Sunday Photo - Lost Arrow Spire

Published
by
Andrew
on August 3, 2008
in Sunday Photo
. 2 Comments

Setting up a Tyrolean Traverse (as pictured below) is often logistically harder than the actual climbing involved to get there. 

In this case, Lost Arrow Spire in Yosemite Valley, Rick Lovelace and I hiked to the valley’s rim, rappelled from the fixed anchors on the right-hand side of the photo down into the notch between the wall and the spire, then climbed the spire while trailing a rope which was still fixed to the anchors.  Once we got to the top of the spire (5.9 A2) we pulled the rope tight, anchored it off, then Rick used rope ascenders to climb back over to the rim while trailing a second rope.  Once he got there, we rerigged the ropes so I could follow and then we could pull the ropes clean.  It is a convoluted process, but well worth it in this case as it puts you in a spectacular location thousands of feet above the valley floor.

The group pictured above did the traverse after us, and just about when this photo was taken I called over to the guy in the middle of the rope and said “Hey, you might try to go easy on your rope - it looks like it is fraying.”  He totally stopped and put his head down for a while until I realized that he didn’t know I was joking, so I called over again “Just kidding!”  to which he called back “Don’t f*ck with me right now.  I’m feeling very fragile.”

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