Well, I am in that overwhelming feeling again. However, this time
its hitting me all right now instead of months following the
expedition. At 8:00 pm last night, we came across our first iceberg.
It was magnificent and had a glacier pool of turquoise colored water
in the middle of it. Due to rough seas, we changed our plans a little
and headed right to the Continent rather then the South Shetland
Islands. Our first destination was Ciera Cove. This morning (despite
the 2-3 hours of semi nightfall) I woke to bluebird conditions,
massive icebergs, leopard seals, penguins swimming, a whale blowing
out its blow hole, and an eerie and desolate Antarctica with massive
mountains and glaciers. All of this which was accompanied by freezing
winds blowing off of the Antarctic ice cap. I quickly ran back to my
room - layered up, tripping over all my gear in the process as I
struggled to get right back outside as quickly as possible......I
don't remember Antarctica being this cold - HA! Wind chills and
fighting the waves into Ciera Cove made exposing skin begin to numb
and burn, but adrenaline was the fire to keep looking onward. Around
noon we launched from the boat out on our zodiacs and headed into the
mountains surrounding Ciera Cove. We quickly skinned up and were on
our way. I decided it was time to rock about three different body
layers to conserve as much warmth as possible. The Antarctic sun,
quickly had me feeling like I was taking a walk through the Mohave
Desert and I found myself stripping as many layers as possible,
followed by freezing again. As we skinned up one peak, I fought off
my sea legs and the heavy temptation of vomiting from what the Drake
Passage had given to me. There was no time for nausea, I was enjoying
the outstanding scenery too much. I couldn't help but think of those
struggling in Monday morning traffic jams in the cities while I stared
out among remote ice and ocean. I was able to fully enjoy being
completely out of the element down here once again. On top of the
mountain, my sights were unrestricted and I could see for miles upon
miles of glaciers, soaring jagged mountains, and icebergs. Lifetimes
worth of ski and snowboarding descents. God's ultimate backcountry
Mecca.
Tonight we are heading down into the Neumayer Channel. The Neumayer
was one of my favorite locations on my last expedition down here. The
mountains are our dreams and other peoples nightmares. They are
extravagant, vivid, and plain out gnarly. The Neumayer even contains
the Peninsula's highest peak at around 9,100 ft - straight out of the
ocean. The objectives for tomorrow in this area are Winkie Island
and Anvers Island.
Tonight, I witnessed a giant avalanche rip out of a peak and roar down
into the ocean with a gigantic powder cloud. I quickly ran to my room
and grabbed my camera. By the time I got out side, the sun was
setting with a tangerine orange color dead ahead of our ship.
Alpenglow was setting on the iceburgs and mountains behind us. As we
made our way further, the mountains lost their alpenglow and gained a
purple, pink, and blue color. We passed by more icebergs with
penguins on top and saw whales once more literally in front of the
setting sun. It was gorgeous and is by far the most beautiful sunset
I have ever seen. I will never forget these memories and the
remarkable snowboarding.
It is 11:30 pm and the sun is now rising again. We are only a couple
degrees from the Antarctic circle so we should now have sun light 24
hours a day. In a few more hours, the sun will be beaming into the
port holes of the ship and it will be time to begin another day.
Powder Lines,
Sean Busby
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