Antarctica skiing - Kellie Okonek https://kellieokonek.com/category/antarctica-skiing/ Adventure, Growth, & Discovery Mon, 06 Jul 2020 17:24:43 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.6.1 https://i0.wp.com/kellieokonek.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/cropped-IMG_0065.jpg?fit=32%2C32&ssl=1 Antarctica skiing - Kellie Okonek https://kellieokonek.com/category/antarctica-skiing/ 32 32 173309226 ANTARCTICA – Ski day 5 – Greenwich Island and back to Ushuaia around Cape Horn https://kellieokonek.com/antarctica-ski-day-5-greenwich-island-and-back-to-ushuaia-around-cape-horn/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=antarctica-ski-day-5-greenwich-island-and-back-to-ushuaia-around-cape-horn https://kellieokonek.com/antarctica-ski-day-5-greenwich-island-and-back-to-ushuaia-around-cape-horn/#respond Fri, 29 Jan 2010 17:06:00 +0000 https://lifeaccordingtokellie.com/new-site/2010/01/29/antarctica-ski-day-5-greenwich-island-and-back-to-ushuaia-around-cape-horn/ Our last day was on the backside of Greenwich Island – unfortunately not the amazing stuff we’d cruised by the day before, but in a more protected harbor that offered decent access to wildlife viewing. Our group still wanted to ski, so we went for the only skiable thing we could see . . . […]

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]]> Our last day was on the backside of Greenwich Island – unfortunately not the amazing stuff we’d cruised by the day before, but in a more protected harbor that offered decent access to wildlife viewing. Our group still wanted to ski, so we went for the only skiable thing we could see . . .
Our objective . . .

Me on top, looking at the area we’d skied two days before . . .

Glen Poulsen considering getting on team get-rad!

Me on the apron . . . another beautiful day! (photo: Scott Fennell)
Steve Romeo on the apron . . . (photo: Scott Fennell)
We quickly cruised by the boat around lunchtime and then took the afternoon across the bay at a Chilean base . . . more lovely time in the sun, taking advantage of every skiable moment until our 4pm departure. We got lucky too because just after we got on shore, the wind came up and everybody else got shut down for skiing due to time constraints and zodiac challenges. I was pretty happy we managed to squeak in . . .
Steve, Sam, and Glen on the skin . . .

Sam showing his love for Chile 🙂

We skied the first coolie in perfect corn and then went around the corner to a mini-couloir . . . because, well, why not?!?
Steve Romeo gettin’ rad in the mini coolie (photo: Scott Fennell)
Our last run was a booter up to the point we could ski the lovely apron back to the seals and back to the water . . . a great note to end the trip on!!
Loading the zodiacs one last time!

 
The other passengers made their fun by taking the Southern Ocean plunge and zodiac cruising . . . Tom took it one notch higher with his antics 🙂

Back on the boat, it was time to sail north . . . we departed as we had arrived: under sunny skies 🙂 Cruising away was bitter-sweet. It was so beautiful and the skiing so unique, it was of course hard to go. But, on the other hand, I felt sort of ready as well . . . Antarctica is a pretty intense place, being on a boat with 100 other skiers in a microcosm of the ski industry is pretty intense, the Zen sessions were intense . . .
Adrienne and I on the deck – we didn’t get to hang out as much as I would have loved to, but it was great to see her all the same!

Cruising north . . .

Me and Adam – we met on Denali, ran into each other one day on Turnagain pass, and now Antarctica . . . I love friends like this!

The Tahoe crew . . . since IceAxe is a Tahoe-based company, CA was definitely over-represented!

And on the way back, we got to round Cape Horn again . . . pretty cool to do, although neither time have I experienced the famous rough seas . . . probably for the better in reality!!!!

The actual Cape Horn

And then it was back to Ushuaia . . . . my last night on the boat was actually pretty cool – it had just become apparent that my Aconcagua plans had fallen through so I was definitely in flux. But, it’s always so interesting to be grounded in the silver lining whenever the less preferred version of life is occurring. And so, I really enjoyed good conversation with a few folks on the boat, staring into the sky and feeling the cool breeze on my cheeks, and just generally basquing in quiet . . .

 

Haha, and now shop for your trip!

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]]> https://kellieokonek.com/antarctica-ski-day-5-greenwich-island-and-back-to-ushuaia-around-cape-horn/feed/ 0 74 ANTARCTICA – ski day 4 in the S Shetlands – double day! https://kellieokonek.com/antarctica-ski-day-4-in-the-s-shetlands-double-day/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=antarctica-ski-day-4-in-the-s-shetlands-double-day https://kellieokonek.com/antarctica-ski-day-4-in-the-s-shetlands-double-day/#comments Fri, 29 Jan 2010 16:26:00 +0000 https://lifeaccordingtokellie.com/new-site/2010/01/29/antarctica-ski-day-4-in-the-s-shetlands-double-day/ So, our 5th day of skiing was another one in the South Shetlands, divided up into a pre-lunch and post-lunch stop. The day dawned blue again and we immediately put our eyes on some tasty looking couloirs, skinning around the back and trying to drop in before the rest of the groups arrived – this […]

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]]> So, our 5th day of skiing was another one in the South Shetlands, divided up into a pre-lunch and post-lunch stop. The day dawned blue again and we immediately put our eyes on some tasty looking couloirs, skinning around the back and trying to drop in before the rest of the groups arrived – this was a cool area, but did cause a bunch of people to be on top at once – good thing was that we had super stable snowpack.

Our lines . . .

Thomas making it look easy . . . (photo: Scott Fennell)

Glen Poulsen gettin’ some! (photo: Scott Fennell)

Looking down from our 3rd run . . . we didn’t ski this direction, but I thought it looked super cool to look down to the ocean!

Oh the lovely views 🙂

Thomas Laakso takin’ it to the Southern Ocean!

Sam Bass skied to the ocean and insisted on taking it all the way!!!

 

Looking back at our knob of goodness as we seal watched on our way back to the boat!

That afternoon, we moved a bit and checked out another sweet zone – lots of cool lines in this area.
Scott Fennell gettin’ ready to drop in . . . notice the pack ice in the distance . . . super cool 🙂

Oh sweet couloirs to the sea – how I love you 🙂

Adam Clark looking over the edge – the day went graybird, but it had the effect of dramatizing the landscape (which was already dramatic) . . . super cool for sure.

Overall another unique day . . . some new lines and new views 🙂

 

 

Haha, and now shop for your trip!

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]]> https://kellieokonek.com/antarctica-ski-day-4-in-the-s-shetlands-double-day/feed/ 1 75 ANTARCTICA – Ski Day 3 – Cuverville Island https://kellieokonek.com/antarctica-ski-day-3-cuverville-island/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=antarctica-ski-day-3-cuverville-island https://kellieokonek.com/antarctica-ski-day-3-cuverville-island/#comments Fri, 29 Jan 2010 15:46:00 +0000 https://lifeaccordingtokellie.com/new-site/2010/01/29/antarctica-ski-day-3-cuverville-island/ Well, the lovely thing about the South Shetland Islands is that they are just as rad as the Antarctic continent itself, so we were able to take advantage of our detour and find more great skiing. Also great about this area was the abundance of good zodiac landing sites, which had the effect of spreading […]

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]]> Well, the lovely thing about the South Shetland Islands is that they are just as rad as the Antarctic continent itself, so we were able to take advantage of our detour and find more great skiing. Also great about this area was the abundance of good zodiac landing sites, which had the effect of spreading out the 106 skiers much better!

Our group headed out and decided to investigate a cool looking glacial ramp as a start to the day. . .
The boys on the skin . . .

Getting goofy – Half Moon and Greenwich Islands in the background

Thomas coming up to the summit

Psyched! After this run, we went over to the col just over my head and skied again!

Stylie turns by Thomas (photo: Scott Fennell)

. . . and stylie turns by Steve Romeo

So, we went around the corner to that mushroom-top mountain and topped out on the col, deciding not to go further as the route got pretty complex and the day was heating up.

 

Oh the joys of roped up glacier travel!

The Black Diamond backpack crew on the ridge . . . Scott, Steve, Thomas, me


The cool thing about skiing on an island is all the views of the ocean!!!
It was hard to decide if you should look at your run or look around . . . generally it seemed like paying attention to the skiing was the better choice! Me, dropping in (photo: Scott Fennell)

From that run, we did some meadow skipping down to the flats and then had intended to go up another ridge to a nice apron, but were shut down by this huge cornice! So, more meadow-skipping instead!

We got back to the boat with remaining time in the ski day, so I went back to Half Moon Island to roam around on skis, look at animals, and burn a bit more energy 🙂

Penguins are rad – if you just sit there, they waddle right on over and get pretty darn close!

I climbed up to the high point . . . extreme! But, for some reason I like this photo – sort of a longing to it.

And then I hung out with some chinstrap penguins – they’re pretty cute!

And still made it back to the boat in time for the BBQ – Benjamin was my favorite waiter and he always brought me ice cream after dinner! We nicknamed him Been-jammin 🙂

And of course there was more time at the Clipper Bar . . . what would a ski cruise be without such a thing?!?!

For another take on the day and more pictures, check out Steve’s words

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]]> https://kellieokonek.com/antarctica-ski-day-3-cuverville-island/feed/ 1 76 ANTARCTICA – travel day to King George Island, South Shetland Islands https://kellieokonek.com/antarctica-travel-day-to-king-george-island-south-shetland-islands/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=antarctica-travel-day-to-king-george-island-south-shetland-islands https://kellieokonek.com/antarctica-travel-day-to-king-george-island-south-shetland-islands/#respond Fri, 29 Jan 2010 06:56:00 +0000 https://lifeaccordingtokellie.com/new-site/2010/01/29/antarctica-travel-day-to-king-george-island-south-shetland-islands/ As is the nature of life and backcountry skiing, sometimes the unexpected happens and so it was with this trip. Due to the broken leg and remoteness of where we were, our boat headed north to a Chilean base on King George Island where a C-130 would transport the patient to Punta Arenas and then […]

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]]> As is the nature of life and backcountry skiing, sometimes the unexpected happens and so it was with this trip. Due to the broken leg and remoteness of where we were, our boat headed north to a Chilean base on King George Island where a C-130 would transport the patient to Punta Arenas and then he could get home to the USA . . . pretty impressive actually: within 48 hours of breaking his leg in Antarctica, he was in an American hospital getting treated.
Cruising the Neumeyer Channel at sunset . . . beauty!
Icebergs don’t get old, in case you’re wondering!

 
. . . neither does time with the crazies in the Clipper bar . . . this particular evening I was learning to appreciate Scotch. I should not admit that I forgot most of my lessons already!

 
King George Island with the zodiac going to shore . . .


From there, we sailed on to Half Moon Island and were able to at least get on shore to walk around, even though there was not enough day left to ski . . . was nice to be out cruising though, and the views were super awesome! I walked further than most so I could just watch the animals alone and then chill on a rock and take it all in . . . pretty nice 🙂

Fun with weddell seals and shadows!

 

 
Who can resist the temptation to do headstands on an iceberg?!?! Clearly I can’t!!! (photo: Thomas Laakso)

Super beautiful evening light – chinstrap penguins in the distance
Overall it was a cool day – Kristin did another great Zen session during our travel, and the evening light as we walked around Half Moon Island was quite calming. For another take on the day, check out Steve’s writeup.

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]]> https://kellieokonek.com/antarctica-travel-day-to-king-george-island-south-shetland-islands/feed/ 0 77 ANTARCTICA – Ski Day 2 – near Port Lockroy https://kellieokonek.com/antarctica-ski-day-2-near-port-lockroy/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=antarctica-ski-day-2-near-port-lockroy https://kellieokonek.com/antarctica-ski-day-2-near-port-lockroy/#respond Fri, 29 Jan 2010 06:24:00 +0000 https://lifeaccordingtokellie.com/new-site/2010/01/29/antarctica-ski-day-2-near-port-lockroy/ Day two of skiing found us in familiar territory, leaving the boat from almost the same location we had a year before . . . but this year we had a bit more time and much better weather, so off we went in search of adventure! We had considered something across the bay, but decided […]

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]]> Day two of skiing found us in familiar territory, leaving the boat from almost the same location we had a year before . . . but this year we had a bit more time and much better weather, so off we went in search of adventure! We had considered something across the bay, but decided to head to the same general area as the rest of the ship, but thankfully leaving earlier and travelling at Dynafit pace to give ourselves some space

 

Mt. Francais in the background – 9000′ straight from the ocean – and our lovely floating home . . . not to mention some cute little gentoo penguins!

Antarctica tends to bring it, so I was not surprised when our lovely ramp turned into a 50 degree booter! Best part was I got to break it 🙂 I have come to enjoy breaking trail – what’s wrong with me these days?!!?

The boys on the knife-edge we topped out on – EXTREME!
From our super sweet first run, we headed around the corner, with Glen and I remembering a series of sweet couloirs we’d seen from the boat last year . . .
And our memory was correct! We climbed and skied the shaded one on the right – classic and steep!
The climb was awesome – high rock walls, pretty decent steps (although axe and crampons kind of steps), and sunshine! We thought we may top out on something flat, but no such luck, so it was a steep-snow transition . . . at this moment and in many moments throughout this trip, I thought back on my Wrangells trip last spring and how much I had learned . . . I love to see what past trips creep into my mind at certain times . . . !
Me dropping in (photo: Scott Fennell). We had lost the direct sunlight which made the run crust over a bit and the skiing become more technical, but I loved every minute of it!!!!

Thomas making his way down . . .

Me and my friends 🙂

Celebratory beers on the boat at the end of the day! Me, Steve, Thomas, Scott, and Glen

Unfortunately, during the time we had been skiing super aesthetic cool lines, a member of another group had taken an un-roped crevasse fall that had resulted in a broken leg and resultant rescue. The IceAxe crew did a fabulous job and got the guy back to the ship without any further complications . . . more on that to come.

To see more about this day, check out TetonAT for the writeup

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]]> https://kellieokonek.com/antarctica-ski-day-2-near-port-lockroy/feed/ 0 78 ANTARCTICA – Skiing on the continent at Ciervo Cove https://kellieokonek.com/antarctica-skiing-on-the-continent-at-ciervo-cove/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=antarctica-skiing-on-the-continent-at-ciervo-cove https://kellieokonek.com/antarctica-skiing-on-the-continent-at-ciervo-cove/#respond Fri, 29 Jan 2010 06:02:00 +0000 https://lifeaccordingtokellie.com/new-site/2010/01/29/antarctica-skiing-on-the-continent-at-ciervo-cove/ Well, after two days crossing the Southern Ocean, we made it to the continent of Antarctica, choosing Ciervo Cove as our first ski location. The film crews and scouters got off first and we were able to follow about an hour later . . .   Coming upon the continent . . . nice to […]

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]]> Well, after two days crossing the Southern Ocean, we made it to the continent of Antarctica, choosing Ciervo Cove as our first ski location. The film crews and scouters got off first and we were able to follow about an hour later . . .

 

Coming upon the continent . . . nice to be greeted by sunny skies and stunning views!

We skinned over to a col and decided to descend the bowl behind us . . . group photo: Thomas Laakso, Scott Fennell, me, Steve Romeo, and Glen Poulsen

Partway down the bowl, we found a sweet coolie and boot up ‘er . . . super stellar views in all directions from the top!!!!

And then we got to drop in for our first steep turns of the trip . . . hip hop hooray! (photo: Scott Fennell)
I like skiing to the water with huge beautiful glaciers in the background!


From there, we headed back up to the col and down the front side, finding the coolest little routes we could throughout the rocks!

Thomas shows us how it’s done . . . you can see the ship below! (photo: Scott Fennell)


Overall, it was a cool day skiing once we finally got mobilized in the morning! To see another take on the day and more pictures, check out TetonAT

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]]> https://kellieokonek.com/antarctica-skiing-on-the-continent-at-ciervo-cove/feed/ 0 79 ANTARCTICA – Ushuaia and the Southern Ocean https://kellieokonek.com/antarctica-ushuaia-and-the-southern-ocean/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=antarctica-ushuaia-and-the-southern-ocean https://kellieokonek.com/antarctica-ushuaia-and-the-southern-ocean/#respond Fri, 29 Jan 2010 05:48:00 +0000 https://lifeaccordingtokellie.com/new-site/2010/01/29/antarctica-ushuaia-and-the-southern-ocean/ Well, this time Ski Cruise actually happened! After arriving in Ushuaia and taking a recovery day from the road trip, we had our welcome dinner and then I headed out for a quick ski run on the Martial Glacier in Ushuaia before setting sail on the afternoon of the 8th. I was super psyched to […]

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]]> Well, this time Ski Cruise actually happened! After arriving in Ushuaia and taking a recovery day from the road trip, we had our welcome dinner and then I headed out for a quick ski run on the Martial Glacier in Ushuaia before setting sail on the afternoon of the 8th. I was super psyched to fit skiing and ice cream in before leaving, making sure I did all my favorite things in Ushuaia! Actually, I even made time to go back to my favorite store from last year (where the girls remembered me!) and buy a dress for my “Welcome to the Jungle” party upon my return home to Alaska!
Adrienne and me being goofy at the Dublin Pub after the welcome dinner – I miss this girl and it was super fun to reconnect!!!

Last year’s ship, the Academik Sergey Valvilov, in front of us cruising down the Beagle Channel out of Ushuaia

My roommate, Kristen Ulmer, shows us how the lifeboat drill is done . . . a retired professional skier, she now teaches Zen and held sessions on all of our non-ski days. It was a unique and wonderful addition to the trip . . . I definitely got styled out with a great roomie!

Adrienne and Ming making the most of the crossing to learn more about sea birds

Our crossing was actually pretty mellow . . . seas were light, food was plentiful, new friends and great conversation abounded, and the Zen sessions spiced things up by giving me plenty to think about!!!!

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]]> https://kellieokonek.com/antarctica-ushuaia-and-the-southern-ocean/feed/ 0 80 Skiing Antarctica!!! https://kellieokonek.com/antarctica/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=antarctica https://kellieokonek.com/antarctica/#respond Thu, 04 Jun 2009 07:19:00 +0000 https://lifeaccordingtokellie.com/new-site/2009/06/04/antarctica/ Not much to say (or rather too much to say) other than it was rad. First we crossed the Drake Passage for 2 days. I spent most of my time horizontal since me and seasickness are silly companions, and it’s nice to feel uncompelled to be active sometimes. We saw lots of birds, including albatross. […]

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]]> Not much to say (or rather too much to say) other than it was rad.

First we crossed the Drake Passage for 2 days. I spent most of my time horizontal since me and seasickness are silly companions, and it’s nice to feel uncompelled to be active sometimes. We saw lots of birds, including albatross.


Day 1: Roaming around the Argentine Islands at the Ukranian research station of Vernadsky . . . Robyn, Andrew, Ingrid, and Kip happy to be on land again 🙂

Day 2: Touring near Port Lockroy and afternoon Zodiac cruising – we found a pretty sweet little coolie with a nice apron and then hung out with some gentoo penguins 🙂 Dave and Andrew getting ready to make some turns . . .

Day 3: Neko Harbor – another sweet booter onto a cool ridge for some legitimately steep skiing . . . and more penguins! Me and Andrew on the booter 🙂


Day 4: recovery from party on evening of Day 3, super steep booters and really amazingly steep and aesthetic couloir skiing . . . Ingrid making her way down the dogleg
Day 5: morning at Whaler’s Bay on Deception Island and bonus ski afternoon in South Shetland Islands . . . Jordan skinning up with more amazing glacier behind . . .

Then we crossed the southern ocean again, rounded Cape Horn and re-entered the Beagle Channel to Ushuaia!

 

 

 

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