Crampon my style

The wheels of science grind very slowly as we wait for the sea ice to go and the ship to arrive with our analytical equipment and something other than cider to drink. In the meantime, I've managed several evenings of skiing and another mountaineering trip and can now boast reasonably competent snowplough turns and an ability to tie myself onto the end of a rope with knots that won't come undone...Being towed back down the glacier on skis hanging off the back of a skidoo remains beyond my ability or nerve though, as i found out painfully last Monday - it's the point when you start overtaking the skidoo that gets really scary! On Friday I went for a climb up reptile ridge and learnt how useful crampons are for walking up steep snow cliffs and how annoying they are for scrambling across rock, plus how not to fall in the Bergschrund. Yesterday (Sunday) a small party of hardcore hangover survivors from the mess that was Saturday night made it out skiing; it was a beautiful day and very warm so I am now sporting a sunburnt forehead because I didn't wear my hat. Today though, there is a blizzard, and the wrong type of snow means the telephone/internet link has been down. Snow in Antarctica! Would you believe it..?

Hope you are all well, and thank you to all those who replied to my last email - if you haven't heard from me yet you will do soon.

R x