Report from October 15-18, 2023

Day #12 – 15 Details:

Miles Driven: 0 (drove up to Martial Glacier and back each day, but we aren’t counting that)
Total Miles Driven: 2,112
Hours of Driving: 0
Latitude: 54.8ºS
Good Food Eaten: Karma – chocolate almond dessert/everything…
Lodging: Random Airbnb in Rio Gallegos – Finisterre in Ushuaia

October 15

Skiing the Martial Glacier Zone

Got up and out on a sunny day in Ushuaia, Argentina, and headed to the Martial Glacier.

We were a bit late, so we followed the sun and ended up high in the zone on a north facing slope.

As the slope steepened we switched from skins to booting.

Near the top of the little chute we were in, the snow became isothermal and we were postholing to our waists.

This is a strong sign of unstable snow so we stopped where we were and skied down.

We stumbled on great corn snow and even ended up finding a little spice on the way down.

Greggy and I were stoked.

We hadn’t skied anything spicy since Bariloche – 2,112 miles ago…

Thanks, Argentina!

October 16

Turning Around on Godoy

Greggy and I got out early and headed for my favorite chute in Tierra del Fuego named the “Central Godoy Chute.”

The weather was cool, windy, and a bit cloudy.

The snow was firm on the approach.

We decided to continue one in hopes of a miracle.

It didn’t happen…

We made it to the base of the chute and the snow was as hard as a rock.

We made the safe call and turned around and headed home.

Greggy on drugs after dislocating his shoulder. | Image: SnowBrains

October 17

Guide Training & a Dislocated Shoulder

Guide training started at 8am with a presentation and orientation.

This is my eight ski-guiding trip to Antarctica with Ice Axe Expeditions and each and every trip has been an honor.

This trip has truly changed my life…

Greggy with his shoulder out in a makeshift sling. | Image: SnowBrains

After some classroom training, we headed up to the skate park in town for some practicals.

The 30 guides on the trip were broken up into 10 groups and we each displayed and discussed a topic such as:

Roping up
Ski guiding techniques
Crevasse rescue
more

Godoy Central Couloir. | Image: SnowBrains

Once guide training was completed I ran up to the Martial Glacier for my ski day #266 of my “300” project.

I didn’t get far, however…

I got word on my phone that Greggy had hurt his shoulder and was on his way down.

I’d only gotten a short way up the trail when I encountered Greggy in a lot of pain with his arm in a makeshift sling.

I quickly diagnosed that it was a dislocated shoulder, and went to work attempting to put it back in.

It had already been an hour since it was out and his muscles were too tight to pop it back in easily, and we were only 5 minutes from the parking lot so I made the decision to head straight to the hospital.