Bipolar Svalbard TR- Better Late than Never

[StuntCok]

Disclaimer: Before I start this TR, I would like to add the caveat that, unlike the Antarctica TR's I was involved in at the beginning of last season, I don't have the the professional photographer photos of pretty pro skiers. That is not to say that this trip was not a once-in-a-lifetime perspective of a part of the world rarely seen, never mind skied, it is just that iphones and pocket cams don't make the point as strongly. Dipstick was there with the Warren Miller crew so maybe he can follow up with some pro-level stoke. I will do my best in his absence. Sorry it is almost a year late...

TR
Last season, you would think I was chasing the sun, not the snow. It started at the southern tip of the globe in Antarctica, were the days were already becoming endless even with our early Spring arrival. Perhaps it was there that remote ski mountaineering got in my blood, where, as a skier, we could pierce a short distance past the coastal constraint faced by most travelers, and see the world from a perspective few humans have ever done. Perhaps it was the morning where two pranksters mimicking our Scottish tour leader over the load speaker, woke us from our drunken slumber to witness the "polar bear and her cubs off the starboard bow". Standing there on the cold deck in my boxers overlooking the barren Antarctic morning sea did the the word "antarctic" impress its Greek derived meaning- that is "no bears". Whether it was a quest for endless sun, ski adventure, or my newly awoken desire to ski with the polar bear, at the end of last season, I found myself again with the Ice Axe Expeditions crew, this time at the northernmost skiable terrain on the planet- Svalbard Norway. A fitting bookend to a remarkable season.

Svalbard isn't quite as bereft of human activity as was Antarctica. Indeed the capital, Longyearbyen, is a thriving capital of alcohol consumption due to tax status, as I was to find out on my last night, but today it was only a port in the unknown.



Luckily, our home for the week, was the (slightly) larger vessel behind the red boat, though I didn't know it at the time of this photo


When you are a famous globe trotting ski star, more important than maps, safety gear and health, is your image rights. Here I sign them away to Warren Miller, though I still don't know why they wanted to know what I would be wearing...



The next step is to get comfortable, after all, this is going to be home for the next week












And, while comfortable, it can sometimes seem a bit... small when the ice comes in



But we came to ski and ski we did.

Like Antarctica, we used zodiacs to approach landings and did our best not to get our boots wet in the landing zone.







And then we skinned long approaches







Bootpacked the steeps







And skied to the blue ocean











And, finally, near the end of the trip, we found the tracks that were haunting me since standing stupidly on the deck in November




and sure enough, that "night" he showed up, the elusive spirt of my season



With that, my ski mountaineering season was complete. We did do some patch skiing on the way home where big mountain pro circuit skier Jaclyn Pasaso showed us some big air



We saw some wildlife



Jumped in the 1 degree salt water





And Aurelien Ducroz duct taped his skis to his feet while wearing rubber boots



And waterskied around our vessel behind the zodiac for a full circumnavigation








But that is all in an average day for a bi-polar skier who made the Warren Miller Magazine (if you squint, you can see me on the boat)



And finally, the obligatory Lhasas in crazy places shot


Thanks to Doug Stoup, Dave Gauley and Andrew Aisenstark for helping me survive the second once-in-a-lifetime trip of the season.

[goldenboy]

pretty sweet

[SchralphMacchio]

DUDE YOU HAVE NOW GOT ME SO FIRED UP .... T- 1 month and counting the days!


Danke Schon!

[splat]

Smoove moves, Stunts!

[Incompetent Boob]

Nice one

[Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer]

Pretty awesome - Schralph maybe I should have taken your advice and signed up for that trip with you. Ugh.

[StuntCok]

Pretty awesome - Schralph maybe I should have taken your advice and signed up for that trip with you. Ugh.

According to my email, they still have room... Actually, I was a last minute sign up myself.

[AKbruin]

Unbelievable. Awesome TR.

[LightRanger]

Killer TR dude, thanks.

According to my email, they still have room... Actually, I was a last minute sign up myself.

Put up or shut up, UCL.

(Good luck getting a hall pass with your calendar over the next several months...)

[Orash111]

It doesn't matter if your shots are pro quality or not. You made a nice writeup.

[Mike Pow]

Definitely worth the wait.

[wcf3]

Don't know how I missed this when it first appeared. Great write up!

[skiitsbetter]

nice. Sea to summit!

[StuntCok]

It doesn't matter if your shots are pro quality or not. You made a nice writeup.

I have pressured dipstick. The pro shots should be coming soon...

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