Green Team blog

If I were to spend a lifetime in Antarctica there still wouldn’t be sufficient time to climb all its mountains!

Yesterday, Mitch and I headed out across the glacier north from Base Camp with the intention of climbing the flat-topped mountain that looks down on us on a daily basis. The weather was clear and cold and, having identified a potential route it had all the makings of a great day in the mountains. We moved fairly easily across the glacier and were soon swapping skis for mountaineering boots and making our way up a broad rocky ridge. After about three and a half hours we arrived at the bottom of the gully at the left hand side of a large buttress that we intended to climb. Mitch made a belay and I led off into the unknown.

The snow was deep and loose and there was no ice. I found some gear and moved up and across to rock. The rock was loose and offered little in the way of holds or protection. I made another few moves. It became obvious that this gully was not going to allow me and Mitch to pass through it and so I made a hasty retreat. Not to worry, there was another good looking gully round on the right hand side of the buttress that we could try. We descended rapidly and moved round to its base. The snow was still thigh deep and unconsolidated but we made good progress and were soon high in the gully. The ground started to steepen and we could see the way out onto the summit ridge. After a couple more tricky pitches I found myself at the ridge. It wasn’t the summit ridge. My way was barred by a steep, loose snow covered rock wall, which I didn’t think I would be able to climb in those conditions. I could see the summit but today was not my day so I climbed back down to Mitch and we made our way back to Base Camp.

Although we didn’t achieve that elusive summit and first ascent we had a great day out in the hills and during our descent identified another gully…

Pete and Jules headed to a peak just to the east of where Mitch and I were climbing. They gained height quickly, travelling on skis through some truly remarkable scenery. After changing into mountaineering boots high on the summit ridge they had success in their sights. Unfortunately they too encountered deep unconsolidated snow and made the difficult but wise decision to descend back to Base Camp. The pair of them had a great day and Jules was over the moon with some of the skiing he had done.

Al, Stu and Stubbsy crossed the short stretch of water to Centre Island where they climbed the lower of two peaks we can see from Base Camp. Although this wasn’t their initial plan, loose snow and significant rock barriers shaped their activity. Battling against the odds and with some canny route finding they ended up on the south face of the mountain, which they then climbed to the summit. Arriving back in camp after midnight it was clear they had had a great day.

I will finish this blog by saying hello to my wife Jo, Jacob, Megan and all my family and friends that are following our progress and supporting us. A special hello goes to Class 1C at Ripon Grammar School. And finally, a plea from Stubbsy for Rachael to email him!


Sam Marshall

Green Team has begun its own exclusive use of the yacht Australis, after spending weeks supporting Blue Team to ensure their success in the various science projects. Australis is a fantastic platform from which to conduct exploration and allows direct access to otherwise inaccessible areas and also gives the team a very comfortable home from which to return to after a hard day in the mountains. This is a very welcome break from days spent in base camp in the freezing cold with limited chances for personal administration and recovery.

Red Team very kindly gave us loan of the yacht earlier than expected, and we took advantage by conducting a recce of possible climbing objectives and landing sites. We also were fortunate enough to visit Horseshoe Island Base, which was an old UK Antarctic Base used many years ago as a functioning station, but has now been taken on by the Antarctic Heritage Trust as a living museum where visitors can go inside and experience first hand what it would have been like to live and work in the Antarctic Circle years ago. In fact the base still gets used on an infrequent basis by Rothera personnel during the winter on their sledging journeys, as its within a realistic range from the base for a day's trip. Staff then often stay for a few days and explore the local area, making use of the cooking and sleeping facilities on Horseshoe. There were many highlights during our visit of the base, but the most poignant for some was the menu containing a variety of recipes for all sorts of wildlife such as seal casserole and penguin fillets - a stark reminder of how attitudes have changed over the years to conservation in this area.

Pete continues:

Monday 30th Jan dawned beautifully. A hasty plan was hatched to make the most of the good weather and we sailed for an accessible beach on the south-eastern coastline of Horseshoe Island. Skis and ice axes were loaded aboard Australis' dinghy and we landed on a shingle beach from where we started our ascents on skis of two peaks on the island. We climbed in three teams - Sam and Rob, Mitch and Jules and Al, Pete, Stubbs and Quinny. It was a windless day with clear blue skies and excellent snow beneath our skis which made for great climbing conditions during the ascent. Our skis are fitted with removable "skins" - strips of fabric tailored to the shape of the sole of the ski where the fabric glides across the snow surface, but provides grip when weighted and prevents the ski from sliding backwards. Originally these were made from genuine seal skins, and we found some examples hanging in the former BAS base in Sally Cove on the Island. Today of course, our skins are made from synthetic material. At around 750m, Rob and Sam exchanged skis for crampons and ice axes and climbed up to their eyrie-like summit from where they enjoyed 360 degree views of Square Bay and its environs. They were at around 840m height. Meanwhile the remaining two teams were able to climb all but the summit rocks of their peak on their skis. Again, they were at around 860m altitude. These of course are not huge peaks in terms of absolute altitude, but it has to be remembered that the climbing starts frequently from the beach and goes on upwards! The actual scale of the climbing therefore is more akin to a day's mountaineering or ski mountaineering in the European or Southern Alps.

Today marked a wee bit of a turning point for our team; we had been frustrated variously by weather and snow conditions up until now, but today the whole team were able to climb and stand together on two peaks, fully taking in the grandeur of our surroundings and beginning to truly appreciate how lucky we are to be able to come and explore in Antarctica!

By the time that the guys were ready to descend, the snow had transformed from hard-packed "neve" snow to what is called "corn". This occurs when the top couple of centimetres are softened by the sun's rays so that the snow surface is a delight to ski on! This is the pleasure of skiing in the mountains: the hard work is done during the ascent, and skis make travel safer and more efficient when glaciers are covered in fresh snow as the weight of the skier is more evenly distributed over potentially fragile crevasse snow bridges. However once at the summit, the skins are removed and the mountain can be descended rapidly. It's also great fun.............!

Today was no exception. It was lovely to arrive down at the beach and to kick our skis off while a couple of penguins watched curiously from the water's edge. A whole new experience in fact. Whilst the sun shone, several of us took advantage of the warmth in the air in order to take a dip into the freezing Antarctic waters. With all the grace of a hippopotamus, Jules demonstrated a less-than-perfect airborne exit and forgetting his drills, could only watch with horror as his "Go-Pro" headcam flew from his brow and was consigned to the depths!!! (See the video action replay......!) http://youtu.be/H7BA_PgQbQU

We then made a transit to pick up Paul Edwards and his Red team from the area where they had been climbing and skiing. It was great to see the guys and swap tales of recent adventures. They were grateful for a shower and meal aboard Australis. Much ice had by now filled Square Bay, and Roger used all of his skills to manoeuvre Australis between the fragments of ice and larger icebergs to find a safe anchorage for the night.

On Tuesday, we cleared all of our equipment from the Base Camp area and loaded it aboard, while Red did a "make and mend" and reorganised themselves. They were now preparing to assist the Blue science team to descend from the Avery Plateau, while we had been given the use of Australis to explore the greater area and attempt some new climbs and ski descents of peaks.

Wednesday dawned a little grey, but soon cleared and we sailed for Camp Point to attempt a prominent peak on the coast that appeared to have potential for an ascent. Today, 1st February, was the 70th anniversary of the founding of the RAF Regiment and Quinny was keen to celebrate this with a first ascent. He and Sam led off, firstly on skis - then switching to crampons as the angle steepened. The snow was bone-hard initially. We gained the summit by late morning. There was a small rocky outcrop at the summit without any cairn atop, and so we assume that this peak is unclimbed. With the snow by now starting to transform, Rob, Sam Mitch and Pete clipped into their skis and enjoyed an exhilarating ski on steep terrain. Initially this followed the narrow summit slopes, demanding short turns made accurately so as to avoid the overhanging cornice to the right of the descent. As the slope became wider, so the radius of the turns increased and we skied faster reaching the beach to loud applause from a couple of Weddell seals lazing amongst the rocks! The remainder of the crew made the "discretion v. valour" assessment and stuck to crampons with the exception of Jules and Al, who decided to demonstrate their increasing skills on skis from a lower point on the mountain. It was great to see how their confidence is increasing on their skis as they accumulate more mileage! After lunch and several warm drinks, the forecast bad weather had failed to come in. Sam, Pete, Mitch and Jules were not yet satisfied, and so as Roger upped-anchor and crossed towards Horseshoe Island again, kit was organised for another sortie..... We ascended Breaker Peak - the highest point on Horseshoe Island at just over 900m - in around 3 1/2 hours. This was excellent ski mountaineering - we climbed on skis, crampons, negotiated crevasses and needed a natty bit of ropework from Sam to bypass the summit cornice safely! The descent was again something to really enjoy - Jules stated excitedly that he is now "addicted" to his skis. Pete demonstrated surprising agility for such an old bloke with a complete swallow-dive forward role as he struck a sastrugi ice-ridge at speed, momentarily losing control and getting down to taste the quality of the snow.......

The barometer was now falling faster than the FTSE on a bad day, and Captain Wallis needed a safe anchorage for Australis to sit out the weather. We made passage for the BAS station at Rothera. A couple of humpback whales decided to join us too. They criss-crossed Australis from all directions, diving and demonstrating their beautiful tail flukes frequently as they did so. This was a spectacular finale to a great day's mountaineering. We took lots of photos as you might imagine, and passed these on to the BAS scientists. Humpbacks have unique patterns on their flukes, which identify individual whales. This enables scientists to track the migration patterns and species numbers of the whales. This is vital work. The whale populations are still struggling to re-establish themselves after their decimation in the first three quarters of the 20th century. The information gathered by BAS and other workers guides the international treaties that are formulated to protect the whales. Whatever the economic imperatives might have been, I still struggle to understand how these magnificent beasts could have been hunted down so barbarically.

Thursday dawned grey and snowy - in fact by midday there was 25cm of fresh snow on the ground. We spent the day tied up alongside Rothera, resting, researching possible new objectives and logging the coordinates of the peaks that we had already climbed and the routes that we had explored in getting there. Expeditions are like this: on a week's climbing or skiing trip you can go "hard at it" every day; however during a prolonged trip there is a cumulative fatigue and you cannot sustain hard physical activity day-in, day-out. Bad weather days are therefore essential to rest and recharge the batteries!

The weather on Friday was much better! The skies were still leaden, but the cloud base was rapidly rising above the summits. The group split into two teams with one team heading for the ridges above Rothera while Mitch, Pete and Sam headed across to the Arrowsmith Peninsula aboard Australis to explore one of the glacial systems to scope future mountaineering objectives for the expedition. Australis' mate Magnus - a craggy, multi-talented Kiwi and all-round good bloke - guided the dinghy in-between the mass of floating ice fragments to an unlikely-looking rocky point at the foot of a glacial tongue. In a scene reminiscent of the Commando's Cliff Assault Wing operations of WWII, he nosed the dinghy up against the rocks and we hopped ashore, taking our skis, packs and ice axes with us. For those of us used to the European Alps, it seems bizarre to be skiing across a glacier at barely 50m above sea level. Of course, even in Antarctica the ground is not as hard frozen at sea level as it is at say 2500m in the Alps. Crossing crevasse fields is therefore much more hazardous as the snow bridges crossing the spans of the open crevasses are relatively much more fragile. To mitigate this risk, we ski roped-up. Additionally, much skill and experience is needed to negotiate a safe route through the maze of crevasses. Today was no exception and we were grateful to Sam for steering a course through tortuous terrain without incident at all! We travelled several kilometres up the Nye glacier and ascended Moyes Nunatak (around 500m), from where we had a grandstand view of the glacial systems and peaks of a large part of the Arrowsmith Peninsula. (A nunatak is an island of rock in a sea of glacial ice). Satisfied with what we had achieved on skis, and what we had seen as potential future objectives, we returned to the coast still roped together, gliding along in our tracks in the softer snow of the afternoon.

This has been a fruitful period. We've been dodging weather systems and sneaking ascents & descents in between. We have also been incredibly fortunate to have the resource of Australis to explore varied terrain, rather than to have been fixed to one location. I think we would all agree that we have had a real flavour of the scale and beauty of the Antarctic Peninsula and its fauna over this past week.

Al Mason

Since we arrived at our new base camp we’ve been busy exploring our new surroundings and pushing up through the Lliboutry Glacier to see what lay beyond. On the 8th Feb, Al, Stubbsy, Pete, Mitch, Jules and Rob donned their pulk harnesses yet again and pushed out for a 3 day recce across the Heim Glacier to the base of Mount Rendu. Sam stayed behind to discuss plans for the final two weeks with Paul Edwards and Stu spent the day pulking Red Team’s supplies from the shoreline to the new joint Red and Green Team base camp. The 9th Feb, saw Mitch and Stubbsy complete a small unknown peak near the base of Rendu before the team had to return to base camp on the 10th to resupply.

Stu took the opportunity to join up with the Red Team for a few days and managed to complete another unclimbed peak and was rewarded with some stunning views of the area and for the first time calm weather on the tops, which meant he was able to enjoy the view and not worry about trying to re-heat his frozen hands for a change.

The 11th Feb saw Stu, with the help of Sam, finally fix our deployed solar panels meaning at last we can recharge our batteries and thus our laptops, not bad given we only have 2 weeks left to run!

The 12th Feb had the team carry out three activities; Sam and Pete took the opportunity to head out on our small boats with Paul Edwards, Rich Simpson and Stu Fletcher and headed across to Blaiklock for some ski touring and meet some of the local wildlife.

Stubbsy and Stu Q spent the day at base camp making their first ever igloo which you can see in the photographs, it’s not perfect but for a first effort it wasn’t too bad and is surprisingly warm when the wind blows.

As for Jules, Mitch and Al they disappeared off in search of another local unclimbed peak, which is where Jules takes up the story:

We were told yesterday that there would be very high winds for most of today that would effect the ambient temperature from -10 degrees to -35 degrees C, due to the effects of the wind chill.

The wind really picked up in the night, and we had resigned ourselves to a quick ski tour to check out a potential climbing route on the other side of the glacier and got in our big thick “doss bags”. As we dozed off, the tent nylon was making that familiar whipping noise, and I found it nice and comforting, a bit like the sound of heavy rain on the windows back in my home.

8 hrs later we woke up, got the stove on the go, and poked our heads out of the tent, and there was a gentle breeze, joy! Mitch, Al and myself headed out to go up into the Boyle Mountains, which are over 1000m high and right next to the water.

Unfortunately, Mitch was at the front of the rope, and the thing about Mitch is he only goes at one speed, fast. We went up a steep ramp of hard snow and ice, and we used our ski crampons to scratch our way up. It took quite a lot of concentration for me not to slip, and keep up with Mitch’s pace at the same time. I wasn’t bothered though, as it was gusting quite high winds up there so the pace was good to keep warm.

We began to think the weather might get the better of us, and considered having to go down early. The snow flurrys were coming and the cloud looked like it may close in on us leading to a white-out, but we made the joint decision to push on for a maximum of 30 minutes, or until the weather got any worse. Just as the snow started stinging as it hit our faces, we were on the plateau. I looked back and could see Al’s big white teeth from under his hood, I knew why he was smiling and I was doing the same. We turned left and pushed up to one of the summits.

When we arrived we laughed, chatted, ate something quickly and sorted out kit for the descent. The views are pretty cool as they are right on the edge of the ocean, you can see all the way over the icebergs to our previous base camp location on the Forbes Glacier.

Before we knew it we were following Mitch down the route we came, carefully making sure we didn’t do any wrong turns that might cause us problems. Al was awesome as he was laughing and talking all the way down, which was impressive as he openly admits he is not the best skier in the world. I fell over once and managed not to be seen by the other two, then gloriously face planted right in front of them both. As we got near the bottom, Mitch decided he wanted to do the same, and did. I skied up to him, looked down at his grinning snow covered face and as seriously as I could, started giving him advice about how not to let it happen again. I really relished this, as nearly everything I know about skiing Mitch has taught me over the last month or so.

We then zipped back to base camp, with Al filming as we went, and got back in to hand shakes, pats on the back, and all round big smiles. Rob, my trusty tent buddy got the brews on and all was good. An igloo had been built by Stubbsy in the meantime, which we all looked at slightly bemused, and jointly agreed was pretty impressive. Sam Marshall popped back from across the bay on the inflatable boat after doing a recce of the south ridge of the 2000m Mount Rendu, and we were pretty impressed when we saw the photo of the boat he managed to land on an ice sheet.

Dinner, and a game of scrabble later, it’s bed time. As I write this, Rob is reading his trusty kindle with his torch, as it gets dark at night now, and Mitch will start snoring within the next 10 minutes. I have been made to change my socks, as apparently they have started to “singe the nostrils”, and the glacier nearby is still making dull cracking noises as it slowly breaks apart and falls into the sea. Life is good, goodnight.

Location went to: S 67 deg 31.623, W 006 deg 37.426 1026m.