Australian Patagonia Expedition

time lapse video of the Jorge Montt Glacier

2011-12-10T10:52:00.001+11:00

The Jorge Montt Glacier is one of the access points to the South Patagonian Icecap. This video shows the rate of melt - captured by Chilean scientists in 2010.
http://spon.de/ve3w5

2009-08-11T09:24:00.002+10:00

After moving our gear from the Jorge Montt Lake up the river to the site of ouur first camp (in pouring rain - no photos of that journey), we then had to climb up the valley head a couple of kms away. On our first attempt we took a route up a side ridge that took a long time and was very tiring - lots of clambering over boulders , through bushes and in deep snow. We could see a good route though and left a small cache of gear up high for later on. Back down the valley to our tent and hoping to get the rest of our gear up the hill the next day. But then it rained - we stayed in the tent and listened to creek and river water levels rising.

We shufled gear up the hill the following day, camping near the top. We had magnificent views of the lakes and valleys we'd passed but still hadn't seen the Jorge Montt Glacier. We saw a couple of groups Huemul (deer) and an awe inspiring group of 6 Condors.

2009-08-11T09:18:00.002+10:00

It took 5 days to get to the start. Two days by road, one day waiting for boat engine repairs and two days by boat. The larger boat took us along the Baker Fiord and past icebergs that calved from the Jorge Montt Glacier. The inflatable was then dragged over the land for a few hundred meters. We then sped across the Jorge Montt Lake for a few kms. We had spent a night on the boat.

Expedition Summary and some reflections

2009-07-26T00:55:00.001+10:00

23/7/09 - As I write this, Rob and I are back in Coyhaique enjoying a couple of days of relaxation before returning to Australia. These transition times allow for recuperation and reflection before once again having to deal with the demands of ‘normal life’ back home.

We have not achieved what we set out to do, which was to travel up the Jorge Montt Glacier, access the South Patagonian Icecap and head south before dropping off via the Uppsala Glacier in Argentina. In the 19 days we had in the field we travelled a total straight line distance of about 15 kms, establishing 5 camps along the way and doing each leg of the trip 3 times on the way out and 3 times on the way back, taking the total distance travelled closer to 90 kms.

It took us 9 days to reach the furthest point of our journey. Here, given the weather conditions we had already experienced and those predicted for the coming days we decided that the time we had available would not allow us to complete our planned forward journey. Instead, in order to remain responsible for our own progress we would have to retrace our steps and return to our starting point.

There was food and fuel enough to do more had we the flexibility to stay on. Our load consisted of camping gear, food and fuel for 24 days. This included mountaineering gear (rope, crampons, ice axes, snow stakes, avalanche beacons and probes), skis, snow shoes, sleds, communication gear, cameras and our little mascot Pablo (named in honour of our boat captain). In total this was about 80 kgs each. We did not weigh the gear but each load we carried during the forward and return journeys was around or more than 25 kgs).

We experienced three days without rain or snow and two of these were the final days of the return journey. We spent 3 days in our tent not moving because of rain or heavy snow combined with low visibility. First light each day was close to 8.00 am and on the clear days the sun rose above the surrounding mountains by about 9.30am. Sunset each day was at about 5.00pm each day and by 6.00pm it was dark. During the first week there was a full moon. Its light was certainly helpful on the couple of days when with headlamps we were still shuttling our loads into the evening.

My sense of the remoteness of the expedition includes understanding that the village we departed from is also remote and that infrastructure that we take for granted like sealed roads, phone coverage and the availability of mechanics to repair broken vehicles are absent. Tortel, a small village on the Baker Fiord 400 kms from Coyhaique has a car park but no roads. People who live in Tortel access their homes, shops and workplaces by boat or a grid of wooden boardwalks and connecting stairways. The roads are mostly unsealed and travel over several mountain passes, pass alongside huge lakes and rivers and travel is very slow due to the pot holes, mud slides and corrugations. Our trip out included putting on chains twice, stopping for a vehicle coming from the opposite direction to be hauled back onto the road after it slid off the icy road surface and breaking a steering arm on our vehicle making it immobile. Quick and effective organization by our support team meant that we needed to wait only 4 hours for a pick up so that we could continue our journey to Tortel. It needed two days however, before the damaged vehicle had been hauled off the road, loaded onto the back of a truck and transported to the nearest mechanical assistance). At Tortel the motor launch that was to transport us to the end of the fiord needed repairs. Waiting a day for the repairs to be completed delayed the start of our journey. We then spent two days on the boat. The first involved travelling to the end of the fiord and carrying an inflatable rubber boat across country for half a kilometer from the motor launch to northern end of Lake Jorge Montt. Icebergs in the southern extremities of the fiord considerably slowed the progress of the boat. After camping onboard overnight the first half of the following day was spent transferring our gear to the waiting inflatable at the edge of the lake, then crossing the several kilometers to the southern edge of the lake before pack hauling the gear over a scrubby ridge to a smaller lake and then on to our first campsite. The very wet conditions – it rained all day – and the tangled, prickly, very dense bush meant that travel was slow, uncomfortable and needed full concentration to route find and keep from falling. It took a full 5 days, including breakdowns, delays and 24 hours of continual travel, to reach our first campsite alongside the stream that would lead us to the Jorge Montt Glacier. Fortunately there were no breakdowns on our way back.

Reflection of a more serious kind:
One of the questions that we asked ourselves during the trip was ‘should we have been able to do more?”. Out on a glacier or up in the mountains, days and kilometers away from other people, its easy to have doubts and to start ‘second-guessing’ yourself. We did have conversations about whether or not we should be out in the rain and snow trying to find our way further up the glacier, asking ourselves what others would have done in this situation and where lay the boundaries between responsible, conservative judgment, foolhardy ‘progress at any cost’, and just being ‘wussy’. Even now, only a few days away from being out there I am starting to forget how physically hard and mentally taxing it was to break a trail through the deep snow – with every step sinking in snowshoes up to your knees - while ferrying heavy loads of gear from one camp to the next. That fading memory makes it easier to gloss over the workload and to judge our effort as less than we wanted.

After leaving the field we have had conversations with a several people and these have provided a different perspective on what we achieved. Those people include Ben and Jaya from the Patagonian Mountaineering School, Olaf, a surveyor with years of experience traveling in remote areas in Patagonia and Mario Mendes, a member of the Carabinieri in Tortel. The info we discovered includes:
· The weather conditions during the period of time we were traveling were exceptionally warm for the time of year. While we were on the glacier the daytime temperatures in Coyhaique reached 18°C when the norm for this time of year is 5°C or lower. Freezing levels were very high, as was the level of precipitation. This was bad luck for us and for our plans.
· There are very few expeditions on the South Patagonian Icecap and fewer still that are successful. Any journey here is a serious undertaking in an area that is remote and can often become inaccessible. Perhaps one in five expeditions succeeds and achieves what was planned. Many end as ours did, with weather foiling the attempt. Others are brought to an end by injury or equipment difficulties. Groups often spend many days, up to 30 or more in some cases, tent bound as they wait for conditions to improve to the point where further progress is possible. We were lucky as our weather conditions were better than that.
· Almost 2/3rds of expeditions require evacuation by helicopter due to injury, illness or other problems. This is a huge undertaking as the closest Chilean helicopters may be up to 400 kms away.
· It often rains in the area around the fiord at the base of the Jorge Montt Glacier. The effect of the westerly wind on the ocean and fiord is such that it has an intensely precipitous microclimate. The term wet snow has taken on a new meaning for us – wet like we have in Australia but much, much more of it. My boots soaked up more water while walking through the snow than when standing shin deep in the creek!

These bits of information have provided a context for our experience that leaves us feeling quite proud of what we achieved.
· We managed to stay warm, dry, well-fed and relatively comfortable in cold, wet conditions
· Deciding to turn back didn’t feel ‘wussy’. Other people more experienced in glacier travel may have opted to continue traveling when we chose to remain in the tent and ultimately to retrace our route, but they too would also have been severely hampered by the snow conditions and visibility on the glacier. We managed ourselves well, worked effectively within our competency level, and extended our experience and level of skill in a physically very challenging area that was previously unfamiliar to us. We also had fun, enjoyed the experience, and maintained an awe and deep appreciation for the harshness and beauty of our surroundings.
· We successfully managed our loads of gear up the access valley, out onto the glacier and back again, and kept ourselves safe as we went.
· We planned our exit from the glacier and completed it by returning ourselves and all our gear to our starting point without requiring any external assistance. (Many thanks to Patagonia Mountaineering School for taking on the role of logistics coordinators – they managed the boat bookings etc beautifully).
· We enjoyed being there and are really happy that despite being tired, wet and uncomfortable for much of the time we could still appreciate being in a very remote part of the world. As we moved deeper into this environment, with its spectacular glacially derived geology, unique flora and fauna and perverse, unpredictable weather ‘hospitable’ was certainly not a word that came to mind. But it still felt that it was a privilege to be there and able to experience its moods and beauty on such an intimate, personal level.

The Expedition Is Over

2009-07-22T19:31:00.000+10:00

22Jul09

47.48.14 S 73.32.24 W

We and all our equipments were picked up by Pablo in his zodiac at around 6pm local time on 21 July and transferred to a larger boat. This required several loads and navigating some white water. From there we dodged the icebergs without lights and arrived back at Tortel about 3am local time. The expedition is effectively over with our safe return to civilisation. All we now need to do is to make our way back to Australia

A big thank you to the ABC team for managing our communications and support. We will update our blog in due course.

Linda & Rob

Almost Out

2009-07-17T01:48:00.000+10:00

48 17.07S; 73 30.46W

Linda and Rob are now back at the south bank of Jorge Montt Lake where they will likely be picked up by boat in 2 days time.

Today has been another exhausting day with it taking 7 hours to travel 2.2 km. This has actually been due to the awkwardness of travelling through thick bush rather than over the glacier. Tomorrow Linda and Rob will travel back the 2.2km to collect their final load - fortunately a lighter load than today's.

Amazingly they have been blessed with fantastic weather today with beautiful sunshine, 10 deg celcius temperatures and amazing views.

Linda was interviewed on the Saturday Morning Show on 774 ABC Radio Melbourne (approximately 10:30 am Aust. EST Sat 18 July). Linda talked about the difficulties of the trip, the support from people in Australia and about the wildlife that they have seen.

In a satellite phone conversation with her Australian Base Communications she spoke of learning so much from this expedition. The biggest shock for them has been the weather as they have not yet had a day with maximum temperatures staying below zero. This has meant that they have had to contend with rain rather than snow and consequently a much wetter environment than they expected. Linda spoke of feeling as though she has been undertaking an 'underwater expedition' given how wet the trip has been. She was extremely happy to finally be having a day of brilliant sunshine.

A difficult decision made.

2009-07-15T01:47:00.000+10:00

Location: 48 18.26S,73 30.43W

Well, after much consideration and deliberation we have finally made the difficult decision to retrace our steps and complete our journey back at our original start point. With the terrain and conditions having been most unhospitable thus far, we believe this to be the only sensible and safe option for us. An unanticipated turn of events, yes, but we continue to learn from and rise to meet these challenges.

We have returned to Camp 1 after a tiring day of portaging our load 4 times over a rocky distance of 2.1km. Conditions continue to be wet with an average temperature of around 5 degrees. The clear skies did, however, afford us the day’s highlight – 6 condors soaring overhead. MAGNIFICENT!!!

Linda & Rob

Another Slow Day

2009-07-13T01:47:00.000+10:00

48 20.48S,73 30.74W
In wet conditions today we travelled 2.2km in deep snow and across rock with two loads back to Camp 3. There has been virtually no wind, an average temperature of -2degC and good visibility. Due to the very difficult conditions and the lack of time we now do not expect to complete our journey across the icecap and are currently considering a revised plan.

Linda & Rob

The journey so far – taking stock

2009-07-11T23:53:00.001+10:00

48 21.05S, 73 31.08W

We are 11 days into our 22 day journey and have managed to haul our gear up the access valley, and onto the Jorge Montt Glacier. The good weather days (we've had 3) have been far outnumbered by days of persistent rain, heavy wet snow, or both.

Low visibility and deep wet snow has consistently slowed our rate of travel. We are currently assessing whether the time available to us is enough to go forward or whether we have to retrace our steps.

Despite the weather and the frustration it brings, we appreciate being in a spectacular area bounded by snow capped mountains and glaciers. When today's snowfall clears we will be able to look across the heavily crevassed Jorge Montt Clacier, to the edge of the Hielo Suc (South Patagonian Icecap) in the distance.

Linda & Rob.

MR

Out of the rain, into fresh snow.

2009-07-09T20:04:00.001+10:00

48 21.05S, 73 31.08W

Camp 4

Everything is going well. the team is happy,and traveling well, if a little slowly still.

We have done 3 round trips of 1.2 Km each, ferrying our equipment through crevassed terrain to the campsite. We are moving through deep fresh snow, and need to be roped together while on the move.

The weather is now ideal for traveling in. The skies are clear and visibility is perfect. Finally the temperatures are averaging below freezing, at -2, with a 5 knot wind blowing steadily from the west.

Linda & Rob

MR

On the move again

2009-07-08T00:30:00.001+10:00

48.20.48 S 73.30.74 W

We're are OK, but tired, and traveling as well as can be expected.

We have done 5 trips of around 2.1Km, portaging our gear over rocky terrain. However our visibility has been limited due to cloudy conditions

The rain has changed to Snow, which is faling steadily. The wind is highly variable, blowing from the west. The temperature is averaging around 2 degrees.

Linda & Rob

MR

Expedition Working Hard

2009-07-05T23:28:00.000+10:00

48.17.06S 73.30.53W
Unfortunately we haven't been able to move forward over the last 2 days and remain camped at 48.17.06S 73.30.53W.

We have been working hard hauling heavy loads across the rock and ice to our existing campsite. This process has been hampered by ongoing rain and wet conditions.

Despite this the team is healthy and feel we are going extremely well.

The current average temperature remains at 5 degrees with little wind and generally very misty conditions.

Linda and Rob

Expedition Finally Underway

2009-07-03T23:27:00.000+10:00

After some minor delays we are finally underway and currently at 48.17.06S 73.30.53W.

We are both fit and healthy and everything going extremely well. We are travelling as well as can currently be expected - portaging our loads over rock we have covered 2.3kms.

Conditions are wet and misty with calm winds and 5 degrees Celsius average temperature.

All our communications equipment is working well and receiving/ sending messages okay.

Rob & Linda

Message Sent 8:22 pm Fri 3rd July local time Chille

Ready and waiting to go

2009-07-02T23:14:00.000+10:00

Unfortunately the start to the expedition has been slightly delayed due to problems with our car and boat transport. At the moment we are in staying in Tortel (47.48.14 S 73.32.24 W) but hope to start as soon as we can.

Other than that everything is going well as we are all packed and ready to go. It is a relief to have all of our gear finally loaded in our packs and sleds which are heavy but manageable.

On the drive here we had clear views of spectacular snowy mountain ranges although now in Tortel we are experiencing some wet weather.
I am feeling confident despite a few pre-trip nerves and looking forward to getting a few days done. Every day is 1.8 kilograms of less weight (i.e. food) to haul!

Linda B

(delayed posting by MR)

Shakedown trip and final preparations

2009-06-28T05:37:00.005+10:00

Rob and I arrived in Coyhaique (Coy aye kay) 6 days ago and have spent 4 of those days camping in the vicinity of a road pass at Cerro Castille in the company of Ben from the Patagonia Mountaineering School. We had beautiful clear and cold weather with scarcely a whisper of wind to interrupt our revision of mountaineering skills and discussions about what to expect on our trip.

We went through avalanche beacon use and search strategy, self arrest, knots, glacier travel, crevasse rescue and igloo making. The igloo maker was great fun - an ingeneous gadget that allowed us to build an igloo out of soft unconsolidated snow. We also sampled some of the food we are taking with us and reminded ourselves of our snow camping systems. We discussed local weather patterns and what conditions to expect on the glacier. We are looking forward to a challenging and spectacular trip.

The Journey to the start begins

2009-06-16T12:51:00.003+10:00

We had a frantic few days before heading off on the plane - finishing off work commitments, voluntary group commitments, thinking ahead to work when we come back and what needed to be done to leave the house behind.

The first step went very well though - a 4.30 am start but with no hitches. An upgrade to business class was an unexpected but highly valued start to the flight. We are travelling with 5 bags, each around 20kgs plus hand luggage - so had to pay excess luggage. The flight to San Francisco was smooth and progress through customs was quick and easy. We had the delight of travelling from the airport to my sister's place in her Buick Roadmaster - perfect for the amount of gear we had.

In the next few days we have a chance to adapt to the new timezone - 3 hours different to our next stop in Chile. We will also make the final changes to the communications system to get it fully set up. Without the distractions of home we can go through our lists and make sure we are fully organised for heading south.

Luck is flowing with us now - will it stay that way?

Permit granted

2009-06-11T22:05:00.003+10:00

Hooray - the permit that allows us to go up onto the South Patagonian Icecap has come through. We had started to look seriously at alternatives in case it didn't come through but luckily it did.
Now we need to check how we go about authorising our crossing of the border between Chile and Argentina on the icecap - there will be no one to stamp our passports up there. The border runs essentially on the divide, which means it meanders backwards a forwards across mountain ridges, mainly on the eastern edge of the Andes.

Final Days before leaving home.

2009-06-11T21:41:00.007+10:00

Today was my last day at work - and I left there feeling that I hadn't quite done what I wanted to but that it was all in good hands. I farewelled Pugsy as she headed off with one of my work colleagues for her holiday. She will love having a few weeks in a home with a fire on all the time and a doggy door that leads out to a backyard from which to sniff the kangaroos. It's empty at home without her but now the floor is filling with piles of gear so its probably good she's not here.

On my 'to do list' are the following:

buy a pair of Goretex overgloves
check the tent - repair a couple of rips
check the repair kit - are there enough needles? How much thread is there?
oad the software onto the PDA and check that the system works
check with the electronics shop whether there is a way of linking my video camera to the battery pack for recharging
make sure I've got all the contact numbers in my little travel contacts book
heck the luggage allowance on the airline website
pack and weigh my luggage
make sure the mascot gets into the gear pile. The mascot was given to us by Strathfieldsaye PS students. It doesn't have a name yet - I think finding a South American name when we get over there will be appropriate.

There is a lot more - and I do want to fit in another couple of exercise sessions, catching up with friends and getting the house in order to leave for a while.

It's exciting thinking about what comes next.

Fitness Update

2009-06-01T23:05:00.002+10:00

after about 5 days with no excercise I managed to do approximatley 44 kms either with my 20 kg pack or pulling a tyre. Using my mountaineering boots for the first time for a while gave me blisters. That was the first walk of the weekend and for the remaining two walks I hobbled in my runners. One of these walks was a delightful spin around the Macedon Ranges Walking Track. The slope at each end of this track is 'very good for training' being steep and long.

A couple of days of no activity followed that little burst of activity - not because rest was in order but because of work commitments taking up my time. I did manage 2 gym sessions and 2 more walks (20 kms in total, tyre or pack) by the end of the following weekend.

I have to keep up the momentum for 2 more weeks. That's two more 'tyre drags' and several pack walks. I am getting stronger!

Getting our gear together

2009-06-01T22:09:00.005+10:00

We are lucky to have many of the items we need for our trip because of trips we have done in the past. We do however need to replace some items and get a couple more.

I have been very excited to find a company that sells overpants with a full fly zip - a zip that will let me go to the toilet without having to pull my pants down. I've learn't from experience that this helps enormously with keeping warm and maintaining dignity while toileting in -30degrees C. It also means that I can go to the toilet while wearing my climbing harness and don't have to worry about unclipping from a rope if we happen to be roped up for glacier travel (the harness is what the rope is clipped into so to take it off to go to the toilet means that I would no longer be roped in.)

There have been some companies that make clothing with this design in the past but currently they are not - so I was very happy to find Marmot had one.

I bought these overpants on line, making a guess about the size and crossing my fingers that they will fit. I've had them sent to my sister Erica, who lives in San Francisco. Erica and her kids tested out the size for me - bit hard to tell from the pictures but it looked like they had fun. I"m sure they'll be big enough!

I've also had a set of tent poles sent to Erica - we need extra poles to help the tent in the case of big snow falls. We will pick these up on our way as we visit Erica and her family before heading south.

Planning

2009-05-23T08:59:00.001+10:00

Planning an expedition takes over a year – maybe even two years.

At the moment I am in full swing with planning for the Patagonia trip. I am also planning for the North Pole expedition which I hope to do next year.

We have to make lists of lots of things that we need – food, clothing, tents, sleds, fuel, ski systems etc. We then have to work our exactly which ones we want, by testing them or by talking to other experienced people. We try things out, change them or modify them. Because we sometimes have different opinions about what would be good we have to discuss it and find out why we have different ideas and then make a decision about which way to to go.

We have to plan our route. Included in this is planning how to get to the start. To get to Pataonian icecap we have to fly to Santiago and then in a smaller place to Coyhaique. From there we go on a 14 hour drive followed by a 5 hour boat trip. If we are lucky we will have some horses to assist with the final bit which is the climb up to an access point on the glacier. To do that we had to contact some Chilean people who can help us with making the arrangments (I don't speak Spanish). The Patagonia Mountaineering School is helping with this, plus with getting the permits we need. At the moment we have an application in with one Chilean dept. We will need others from other departments as well as permits from Argentina. A tricky aspect of our route is that we will cross the border between these two countries without going through a recognised border post. We found out about these things from other people who have trips in this area – helpful fellow adventurers are very important for the information they have about places.

We try to buy our gear in Australia – to support Australian businesses. Some things we need to buy from overseas though. Countries where there is cold, snowy weather have some clothing more suited to our needs.

The biggest part of the organization for a long and remote trip is raising the funds. This is the bit I enjoy the least and am least good at. I have to gather all my courage to contact people to ask for money. I do plan to work out how much money we need and work out a number of different ways to fundraise. The plan has helped, for example, to let us know that selling merchandise is not going to make us money (it just covers the costs) and that we need to hold quite a lot of fundraising events. I have asked people to help with the fundraising and to my surprise some people have agreed to help. Their willingness to do this is such a boost to my morale and makes the difficult task a much easier one. Once again I am reminded that the support of friends is one of the most valuable things you can have. I am also reminded that the job of organizing an expedition is pretty large – and much harder to do without the support of others.

Finally we all have to get ourselves fit, healthy and strong enough for the expedition.

Being in the Natural Environment

2009-05-20T22:35:00.003+10:00

How do we see the natural environment? What is our relationship with it?

I love the natural environment. I love being out in the bush, on a mountain or by a mountain stream. To stand on a high point and look out over forest and untouched landscapes is exhilarating and awe inspiring. The complexity and sophistication of the way all parts of our ecosystems fit together is truly amazing. Being in the bush reminds me of its beauty and that I too am but one part of a glorious whole that is our natural world. The further away from signs of human impact the happier I am. I find the bush a safe place to be, much safer to body and soul than a city landscape.

The bush can be dangerous. Nature gives no favours - a storm will just come and go with no regard to who is in its path. In that way nature can be very humbling and provide an important reminder that our lives depend on the state of the natural world. Most of the danger though is when we make mistakes – we frighten an animal that then bites us, we walk into its territory that it then defends, we take a route we are not skilled enough to do, we allow ourselves to get too cold or thirsty and become incapable of looking afterourselves. These are avoidable dangers – and I relish the challenge of ‘travelling safely’. The danger I fear most is the danger of what people do to each other – theft, assault, car accidents – these are not in the bush.

I never think of doing something in the outdoors as ‘conquering’ or ‘fighting’ the conditions or the route. I believe that in being in the outdoors that we are doing what we can to work with nature, for example by being attentive to the weather, just as we are attentive to our position on the map and that we have to adapt to the conditions – a humble approach. The sense of having successfully managed in tough conditions is a sense of knowing my own competence but more importantly is an experience of ‘working with ‘ and ‘becoming part of’ nature.

Training, Training, Training

2009-05-03T20:29:00.004+10:00

With 6 weeks to go before we leave Australia we have a lot to get ready. I've been doing fitness training for a number of months but the training now is pretty crucial. While I would like to be doing 10 fitness sessions a week I'm finding that I am managing between 5 and 7 - due to work and other commitments - though I know that if I tried really hard I could get out to do more. One of the key barriers is mental - the commitment and determination to do some excercise every day even if it means going out in the dark of the night or the very early morning. I can't always make myself do it.

My fitness activities include:

Basketball - Good for a fun activity, anaerobic excercise and speed work.

Gym - I have a 3 programs that I work through. These are mainly focused on upper body strength to make sure my back and arms are ready for sled hauling, lifting and snow shovelling. If I go in the mornings I only do one aerobic warm up and alternate between the stepper and the rowing machine. If I go in the evenings or on the weekend I will do both.

Running - I run once a week with a friend and we do about 5 kms. I do another run once a week and do between 10 and 15 kms.

Tyre hauling - this is the delight of icecap expedition training. Great for fitness because I work hard and for over 2 hours each time. I attach a tyre (with a wheel) by a rope to a backpack harness and drag it on dirt tracks for approx 11 kms each time. I have several options including adding wieghts, dragging the tyre on the side that has already worn through. This is hard work as the tyre picks up dirt and rocks and has a high level of friction.

Pack walking - I load up my back pack with 20 kgs of water, bricks, ropes and other heavy stuff and walk from my house for a couple of hours. I try to find routes that have hills.

In the last 3 weeks I've managed to do the following:
week 1: gym 3 times, tyre drag 2 hours and 20 mins, 24 km bike ride
week 2: basketball game, touch rugby game, gym 2 times, run 5 kms
week 3: basketball game, touch rugby game, gym once, tyre drag 6 km heavy/6 km light, run 8 kms.

I hope to do more sessions over the following 6 weeks - but to avoid injury and over tiredness.

The expedition is on!

2009-04-28T22:01:00.003+10:00

With the payment made for our flights over to Chile the expedition is confirmed. We will leave Australia on the 15th June and reach the small town of Coyhaique on the 21st. For five days we will do a trip with the Patagonia Mountaineering School to the Cerro Castillo National Park and refresh our skills in glacier travel, crevasse rescue, snow shelters and more.

After a few days of packing and sorting, visiting local authorities to get permits and doing other organising we will then be ready to go. We are aiming to drive to the tiny town of Tortel on the 30th June, after which we will get a small boat that will take us to the bottom of the Jorge Montt Glacier and the start of our trip.

We have 3 weeks to climb the glacier, travel along the icecap and descend the other side.

- and from today we have 6 weeks to get ready.