Winter Trip

Nansen Sledge and Pyramid Tent

One of the best things about Wintering at Rothera has to be the winter trips, everyone gets 2 weeks off base one at the beginning and end of winter. You and a GA (field assistant / guide) get to spend a week camping / climbing / snowboarding / skiing. Liz and I set off on in relative darkness at 10am, our skidoos roped together and towing sledges packed with enough food and gear to keep us going for a month - it sounds over the top but if the weather turns you really can be stuck in your tent for days or weeks on end, plus you have to have almost double the amount in case one sledge falls into a crevasse! We set up camp near Trident, about 10km North of Rothera. Our original intentions were to aim for an abandoned Chilean base (Carvajal) on the far side of Adelaide Island but poor weather and short days meant we'd get more done if we stayed closer to base. Roger and Matt joined us and once tents were up we skidooed over to the recently named 'Hangover Buttress' on Trident and did a brilliant ice climb up one of the gullys. The next day Liz and I swapped gullys with Rog and Matt and enjoyed another excellent climb.

Hangover Buttress & Rog checking how wide the crevasse is

Ice climbing on Hangover Buttress

The next 2 days were windy with poor contrast so we were confined to the campsite. We made use of our time by creating a stunning snow hole and having fun with long exposures and torches in the evening....

The temperature stayed around -10 to -18 all week hence the tents got pretty chilly once the primus stove and tilley lamps were off. Frost formed around the top of your sleeping bag overnight and even the port began to freeze. The pyramid tents, tilley lamps and stoves are pretty much identical to ones that have been used since the days of Shackleton and Scott proving they are ideal for the job. Our sleeping 'systems' are however much more advanced and consist a wooden board topped with a foam mattress, inflatable 'Thermarest', a sheepskin, a thick down sleeping bag and fleece liner so once your inside it's pretty warm.

The final day brought good weather which allowed us to rope up and trek up Gwendolyn with our snowboards and skis. It was painfully cold at -20 degrees C but worth it for the views and the board down (made more interesting by having to avoid putting any turns in when you were crossing the snow bridged crevasses!!). On the way back to the tents we took a sort detour to enjoy the sun setting over Mc Callums Pass, it was strange to think that it is probably the last time we'll see the sun for a while as it no longer rises above the mountains and we're loosing about 10min of daylight each day.

Trekking up Gwendolyn & Sunset over McCallums Pass