Guiding climbers in Antarctica: something different

Hi All,
I hope this finds you savoring the cool fall days and enjoying the crunchy leaves. It's been wonderful to be around for this much of autumn for a change.

After five seasons working as a field instructor for the US Antarctic Program, I'm going south from an entirely different angle and for a much shorter season. I'm going to be guiding climbers on Vinson (one of the Seven Summits: continents), other peaks, and potentially penguin-watchers for a private company called Antarctic Logistics and Expeditions (partly British). I hear many of the clients are European. Can you believe it costs $35,000 USD to climb Vinson! And with the economy as it is...?!

http://www.antarctic-logistics.com/index.html Click on Adventure Network International, the company they bought. The Ellsworth Mtn Safari sounds like a lot more fun than Vinson; hopefully I'll get a variety of trip types.

I'll be flying through and training in Punta Arenas, Chile and working out of a large camp called Patriot Hills near the Ellsworth Mtns and Ronne Ice Shelf (Weddell Sea). Patriot Hills is much more like what one imagines when thinking of Antarctica than McMurdo is: a lot like a major USAP field camp such as WAIS. I'll be sleeping in a normal tent for the whole time which is another good reason not to be down there for six months again!

I'm looking forward to seeing a new part of the continent and a different field operation. A nice feeling to be going into their scene with so much Antarctic field experience.

They run a "Last Degree" ski expedition on which they ski the last latitude degree to the South Pole. I hope to work that trip and then get to visit my friends at Pole! That would be a kick after skiing across the Great White Expanse for however long ("Look! More snow!") One friend already promised to sneak me and my clients fresh cookies ;-)

I'll only be down for about 10 weeks which will be nice as it will allow me to work a winter ecology (and ski, avalanche) course here in the Tetons for Prescott College in January. I am looking forward to getting back to my roots and developing additional winter employment options, esp locally. I must say, however, I have mixed feelings about coming directly home from the ice rather than spending time in South America...

I'm not done with the USAP and expect to return hopefully next year as a mountaineer/guide contracted by specific science groups for the duration of their project. These would be shorter contracts and would allow for more guiding for ALE as well as home work and play.

I don't think I'll be able to post the occasional update on this blog because we'll have such limited bandwidth that normal websites won't be accessible. Because this Antarctic program is so much simpler than the enormous and complex USAP, I will have far less to expound upon so will write short messages as per last year.

This will be more the classic Antarctic experience... I'll be in the field the whole time to varying degrees.

I recently enjoyed my first fall climbing trip in years, albeit a short one. Spent almost two weeks in the Indian Creek and Moab (Utah) area enjoying delightful and challenging sandstone crack climbing. Visited with several friends in Moab, mountain biked a couple times on the famous Moab slickrock, and overall much enjoyed being out car camping and climbing again. I so love the simplicity of the lifestyle.

I hope you have a wonderful end of the year and I look forward to hearing from you sooner or later :-)

Love and Wild Winds, Suz