Expedition Dispatches

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Dali Painted Landscapes
Thursday, February 17, 2000

Editor's Note: Team members attempted to file these e-mail dispatches February 12-14, but due to electrical storms in the area, were not able to transmit them until today, February 17.

Rick Armstrong
Giant icebergs standing high above the turquoise blue water like castles of the ocean. The ominous, yet graceful killer whales circle underneath these fortresses of ice as thought they are guardians of this magical place. I have been lucky enough to travel around the world skiing peaks and climbing mountains most people don't even know exist, but I have never seen any place that compares to this.

This is a place where the wildlife doesn't run away from humans at first sight. A place where humans are only guests for a short period of time. A place that at any moment can turn into an incomprehensible misery of blowing snow and zero visibility and then just as quickly turn once again into the fairy tale ice land full of unreal things.

The mountains rip Out of the sea often with no easy way to gain access to the upper elevations. Glaciers hang off most of the sea walls and the smell of penguins(not all that pleasant)gets pushed far from the shores and is easily smelled even when two to three miles yards off shore. We are going to go out tomorrow and get our first ski expedition in Antarctica started. I look forward to waking up to see what this place is going to put in front of us next.

Most importantly, to Hollee, Happy Valentine's Day from Antarctica. I hope we can come back here together in the near future. I Love You. Say 'hi' to Clubby and Neve for me.

Hans Saari

Today we touched the continent of Antarctica for the first time. Finally we are off the boat and on stable ground. The entrance out of The Drake Passage and into the English straits proved to be spectacular. Giant icebergs floated around the boat whales spouted and tiny little Gentoo penguins and porpoise follow along in our wake.

The sky swirled blue and white, sometimes lighting up the sunny sides of the icebergs in fiery reflections. The landscape reminded me of something that Dali would have painted.

To access Aitcho Island, we used four Zodiacs, small rafts with high-speed motors. Using a crane from the Akademik, the crew lowered the boats into the English Straits and away we went. Aitcho Island was teeming with wildlife. Penguins were abundant, walking around like little zombies. Elephant seals, which grow to the size of a large family-sized car, four tons, slumbered on the beach. Yellow lichen sprouted everywhere, intermixed with fragile green moss. On one beach, thousands of Gentoo penguins swarmed about, hopping in and out of a graveyard of whale bones. The young, which were as big as the adults, but with much more fur, would come all the way up to us and snuggle, providing we stayed low to the ground and didn't frighten them. Even then they were more friendly than the Chinstrap penguins which waddled around oblivious to our presence.

After the day's adventures, we sped back to ship for a sauna and steak dinner. After dinner there were many games of chess. I wish all expeditions were cruise expeditions. Tomorrow it will be for real, however, as we head into the unknown for skiing and climbing adventures.

Doug Stoup (written Feb.12)
It has been a little over a month since I have left the beautiful but not always hospitable continent of Antarctica. The Vinson Ski and Snowboard Expedition was not only a huge success but has been fixated on my mind every day since my return back to civilization. I have put another team of strong ski and snowboard mountaineers to engage in this unique journey.

Antarctica is such an incredible continent with nature in its color and glory. I hope everyone reading this will enjoy the dispatches as much as we will be giving them.

The Peninsula is vastly different from Antarctica's interior. We will see an abundant amount of wildlife including killer whales, assorted Petrels, albatrosses, elephant seals and bevy of breeds of penguins. Not only will we see this unique wildlife the team has open set of objectives to climb, ski and snowboard first ascents and descents along the Antarctica Peninsula.

We are to arrive at Ushuaia today, often referred to as the most Southerly town in the world and it set in a region of Forests, mountain peaks, fjords and islands known as the Terra del Fuego.

Tomorrow we will board the 71MTR Akademik Shuleykin to make our two day voyage across the drake passage,known as the roughest seas in the world. We have a medicine chest full of sea sickness remedies Including patches behind the ears, wrist bracelets, magnets and Dramamine.

So stay tuned for daily updates of this incredible journey, the Antarctica Peninsula Climb and Cruise Expedition

EXPEDITION DISPATCHES