Patagonia - Northern Icecap 2012

Ice cap done – but still hard going

admin — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 09:20:58 +0000

Just got a phone call from the team. They are progressing well. They are currently on the San Raphael Glacier making their way back to the road head where they will head back to civilisation. The terrain is very difficult going with a mix of glacier and moraine . They are currently doing 16 hour days and are having to do two trips over each distance to carry all the equipment. It is currently 6am there and they have already had breakfast and are just packing up the tents and tending to sore feet before they start carrying equipment again. Dont forget that you can track their progress here http://my.yb.tl/icecapadventures/

Blue Skies and Progress

admin — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 07:52:02 +0000

What a 72 hours, got trapped in a howler of a storm for nearly 36 hours, spent 5 hours digging the tents out to spend over an hour travelling 1km in 60 – 100km winds to spent another hour putting up just one tent, absolutely crazy weather, and then this morning we woke to blue skies and then we have made a dash to finish crossing the ice cap, we have about 14km to the San Rafael Glacier and then a number of days descending that but it’s looking good at the minute, were all knackered after today and we have a 6.30 start to cross a severally crevasses area. The hauling has been toughy Bill Hanlon had to return home with a sciatic nerve problem, but Bill we have all your gear, and it’s gonna do the crossing, heard your home in Canada and recovering, but you owe us a dinner.

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On the move!

admin — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 15:49:45 +0000

Great weather today, last load up to the Glacier and we are drying everything, in the first sunshine in 10 days. We will be skiing in the next hour, spirits are high now our sleeping bags and clothes are dry. The visibility today is amazing and we hope to ski till 8 tonight, and weather permitting we will cross over the next 4/5 days, it has been a tough time with all the wetness, wind and storms, and the continual retreats and moving camp in the night has made it a tough task to date, but at least we have some sun now

Rain Rain Go Away

admin — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 13:58:14 +0000

Cian here back at base in Dingle. I just got a phone call from Mike and the team with the latest update. They have gotten to the High Cache now at the glacier. They have been pounded relentlessly by heavy rain and wind , and all equipment is now very wet , sleeping bags and tents included ! They have their first load of gear up on the glacier and have 2 more to haul today. They are hoping to be on skis and start across the glacier tomorrow all things going well.

All are well but are really hoping for a break in the weather so that they can dry everything off. Keep tuned for the latest updates here on on Facebook. Also keep an eye on their tracker here (it will be updated later today Mike assures me!)

Nearing the ice

admin — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 09:14:12 +0000

We received a phone call from Mike back here at base in Dingle yesterday evening. The team are doing well , they have done the boat trip , and two days horse riding and were in the process of carrying gear in to the base of the ice yesterday when we spoke. They had half of the gear carried in , and were hoping to get the rest of the gear carried late yesterday. The weather with the team yesterday was very varied from glorious sunshine , to snow and 50 mph winds , to rain , to sun again – I told Mike that it was pretty similar to yesterdays weather in Dingle ! The sat phone reception was very poor due to the fact that the team were in a valley with very high surrounding mountains so I expect that we will get a more detailed update today or over the weekend.

Landed in Patagonia

admin — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 07:50:26 +0000

We’re are in Coyhaique now staying in the Patagonian Hostel, time to prepare all the food!

Patagonian Hostel

This morning was spent getting 100 breakfasts ready, and in typical Patagonian fashion the weather has 5 seasons in a day, at the moment we are in the rainy and windy bit, lots of rain and wind. We hope to depart on Sunday now, we are delayed a little as there is an election here on Saturday and its similar to home really Politics and Religion are taken on a par. Easy to know the Irish have had a huge influence down here.

Breakfast Packing

ExplorersWeb – Ice Cap Article

admin — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 07:41:22 +0000

ExplorersWeb have just run a really nice piece on Mike & Clare , explaining the expedition, the terrain and the challenges . Head over and check it out here ! http://www.explorersweb.com/polar/news.php?id=21100

Final Preparations

admin — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 11:46:04 +0000

Getting there slowly We are in the final preperations, although the list seems to get longer the more we get done, so much gear, preparing for +30C to -30C sometimes in the same day makes for some intersting clothing selections, … Continue reading →