Well, we made it up the Wujek Ridge, woohoo!
An incredibly tough day started early with beautiful clear patches of deep blue glacier ice beneath our skis alternating with ridges of hard snow. Beautiful but hard to traverse, our skis slipping on the ice whilst our sleds were still mounting the snow ridges behind us. We alternated between skis and crampons from the outset depending on the surface and gradually made our way into the heart of the mountains, the ground rising in tiers. Eventually we reached the base of the ridge itself. More accurately it’s really a steep snow slope with crevasses on one side and towering cliffs of black and ochre rock on the other. Too steep to pull both sleds at once we secured one each of our sleds to a snow stake, marked the point with our GPS then set off with a single sled each. We ground our way up the steep slope, the going incredibly tough but the reward of a stunning vista opening up behind is made it worth every step. Below us now lies the blue ice fading into snow, dropping away to the vast expanse of the Ronne/Filchner Ice Shelf and the distant hump of Berkner Island fading into the haze. We finally made it to gentler ground, stashed and marked our first two sleds, then set of back down to do it all over again! Eventually we crested the rise for the second and last time, soaked in the view then got ourselves into our tent for a much deserved brew, tired but happy with our day’s work!
Suunto Stats
Skiing Time 9h 20 mins
Distance 14.3kms
Gareth
Average HR 116
Max HR 161
Calories burned 6500
Richard
Average HR 115
Max HR 168
Calories burned 6680
