Skiing the Antarctic Peninsula
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Skiing the Antarctic Peninsula
[ October 9, 2009 - 2:25pm ]
Dek:
Skiing Magazine's Senior Editor Sam Bass to Blog from Antarctica.
In about three weeks, I’ll board a plane in Denver with my ski gear and fly
to the southernmost city in the world: Ushuaia, Argentina. My ultimate
destination is Antarctica—the Antarctic Peninsula, to be precise.
Photographer Adam Clark and I are joining a unique expedition conceived by
international mountaineer and guide Doug Stoup, founder of Ice Axe
Expeditions. It’s the first trip of its kind. A group of about 65 skiers
with various levels of backcountry experience will take a small cruise ship
to the Antarctic Peninsula, with an itinerary based around skiing.
We’ll convene in Ushuaia, spend a few days brushing up on ski-mountaineering
skills in the mountains nearby, board the ship and cross the infamous Drake
passage, ski and trek for five days on the Antarctic Peninsula, and then
return to Ushuaia. Sure, we’ll do some penguin and iceberg tourism, but the
focus will be on climbing and skiing.
“I’ve been to Antarctica 18 times and the skiing is outstanding,” says
Stoup. “It has been a dream of mine to bring a group of like-minded skiers
there from around the world. Skiing the peninsula is a different experience
than skiing the interior. You can ski right down to the water and there are
penguins, seals, and icebergs everywhere.”
I’ll also be joined by extreme-skiing pioneer and Warren Miller
Entertainment cinematographer Tom Day, who will be shooting a segment for
the 2010 Warren Miller Entertainment film. I plan to write feature stories
for both SnoWorld Magazine (WME’s playbook) and Skiing Magazine.
I’ll be blogging regularly during the trip, but I won’t be the only one
reporting back stateside. Stoup’s trips always have extensive educational
components. He travels the country lecturing to school groups about polar
environments. Students in at least 19 school districts will be following the
expedition, participating in live video-feed question-and-answer sessions
with Stoup and his team of scientists, athletes, and guides.
Stay tuned here for more updates in the coming six weeks. If you have a
specific question for me, send it to sam@skiingmag.com.
—Sam Bass
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very cool, curious about snow, water content, the aspects, how that applies to the region, so that means south-facing is good? The from the coast, do you have to hike over the top and ski the backside toward the pole to get anything that isn't sun damaged? Oh, and a map would rock, does Google have an overhead? thanks for doing this....