Pro photographer Jordan Manley heading up.

Self portrait. Errera Channel behind me.


And this above me.....

                                                                           Photo: Jenny


...the Sable Pinnacles. Chris Davenport, Jordan Manley, Andrew Eisenstark, and Robin McElroy got dibs on this tasty couloir. Jordan was heard saying ,”Ya I’ll ski it, I’ll ski it for sure.” (Blizzard of Ahhhh’s reference). Davenport said it was likely topping out near 60 degrees. Call me crazy but I think you’ll be seeing a few of Jordan’s photos from this run over the next year.


There is only so much room in a single couloir, so the rest of the gang skirted climbers left around the ridge, only to find this beauty coming down the north face of the Pinnacles. Only the lower half of the line is visible in this photo. Just above where the line disappears, is a dog leg crux. Glen Pollsen, Dave Rosenbarger, Kellie Okenek, Ingrid Backstrom, & Kip Garre were the lucky ones. A sweet looking, technical line. The lower half sounded like its’ northern exposure (IE-sunny exposure in the southern hemisphere) had baked it but I know they had a great time.



Two of them shown above waiting for the others in the crux. (A little video from this and the rest of the trip will follow by January.)


Unfortunately again, it was a  little crowded  so four of us continued deeper towards the Zeiss Needle. The clouds were low and we could not see the summit. As we approached the base of a large rock wall I stopped to take a picture. I did so just as the clouds lifted to the summit to reveal...

...Walter, Manuel, Andreas and myself standing beneath a massive hanging glacier. Not a great place to be. Two seconds after I took this photo I was skiing downhill with my skins still, quickly retreating with our tails between our legs. Whoops again.


As we returned to the zodiac pick up location, there were some great quality turns the last few hundred feet.

Davenport about to drop in.

Ingrid demonstrating the latest fad in ski fashion; a PFD (lifejacket). All the cool kids are doing it.

Photo credit: ????

Our trickiest beach landing/take out. Due to breaking waves and a few “bergie bits” (zodiac size chunks of ice), the zodiac had to land perpendicular to the beach. Timing was everything and we took a few seconds too long and Walter got hammered from behind by a wave as we were backing out. He fell out half way, handing his video camera to the nearest and driest looking person. He was back in the zodiac in a flash but we weren’t able to get off shore before damaging the propellor. We limped back to the Vavilov, some damp, but all happy.


In the afternoon we cruised to  Wilhelmina Bay,.... the same Wilhemina Bay that made the news less than a month later on December 5th when the ship, the Ushuaia, ran aground, and evacuated all of it passengers.


There are many  reasons cruise ships come to places like Wilhelmina Bay;

 

It wasn’t an option for our ski crowd, but some of the people we shared the boat with were there to kayak. The kayaking looked simply gorgeous. Nice way to spend a day paddling in a Current Designs kayak.


Part 3 to follow soon, featuring skiing in the South Shetland Islands, a crazy penguin video, and the Drake Passage,....

The massive Leopard seals.

They can reach up to 10’ long and weigh 1300lbs.

The icebergs.