Professional Pics from Ice Axe Antarctic Cruise

Thanks for the postninja link. Liz found that one last night too. It has zoomed pics of the orcas knocking the seal off the ice floe for dinner.

Again, more expert groups, lots of bootpacking and roped travel. Also roped skiing from the top of Victoria as the snow on the steepest part was very icy.

It's very clear why they were cautious about who got to ski the really steep stuff. On the last 3 days the snow was hardpacked/icy on the higher steep terrain but powder/packed powder lower down, as on Victoria the 3rd day. The guides take their best shot, but obviously they don't know what the snow will be like until they get up there.
 
That storm on the drake passage looked scary as heck. Those waves were as high as the bridge of the ship! They must've been at least 60 feet!
 
rfarren":3p5ou0v7 said:
That storm on the drake passage looked scary as heck. Those waves were as high as the bridge of the ship! They must've been at least 60 feet!
As noted elsewhere most of us wanted to observe/film/get in on the action after breakfast Nov. 19. After the rogue wave at 11AM I got the impression more people heeded Quark's advice to stay in our cabins. Lots of people were knocked down by that even though presumably I had one of only a few actual injuries from it.
 
Tony Crocker":2tcq9i3u said:
rfarren":2tcq9i3u said:
That storm on the drake passage looked scary as heck. Those waves were as high as the bridge of the ship! They must've been at least 60 feet!
As noted elsewhere most of us wanted to observe/film/get in on the action after breakfast Nov. 19. After the rogue wave at 11AM I got the impression more people heeded Quark's advice to stay in our cabins. Lots of people were knocked down by that even though presumably I had one of only a few actual injuries from it.

Probably read this in the TGR thread, but the cook suffered a broken arm and head injury in that storm. Doug and Andrew were outside with Gnarwhale during that filming, they would told to go inside and eventually everyone was asked to stay in their cabins. From what I read, it was no longer a choice in the end.

Again...crazy trips from all aspects. Skiing, wildfire, partying, boat ride...comments from those presents and photographic evidence clearly states. Trip of a lifetime, yet I already hear some people looking to return next trip.
 
Patrick":36svycf9 said:
Probably read this in the TGR thread, but the cook suffered a broken arm and head injury in that storm.

No you saw it in my response to a Drake passage question on my Nov. 14 report.
Tony Crocker":36svycf9 said:
The dining room was closed for lunch as one of the waiters was in the kitchen during the wave hit and suffered a broken arm and head gash.
Once I determined my breathing was not impaired I did not seek immediate medical input due to the obviously higher priority.

FYI medical facilities on cruise ships are very limited. No X-ray to check for broken bones, even on the behemoth ships carrying 3,000+ passengers. In 2006 Andrew sprained an ankle on departure night of a Caribbean cruise. They put him in a wheelchair for the first day at sea until it could be X-rayed in Aruba.

We were required to prove we had at least $100,000 in medical evacuation insurance for the Ice Axe cruise. But IMHO anyone who got injured was going to have to wait until Nov. 20 for serious medical attention. How do you evacuate from the Antarctic Peninsula? It's too remote for heli access. It's very mountainous so where do you land a plane? Maybe King George Island, which has multiple research stations, has cleared an airstrip.
 
Tony Crocker":36v6rnia said:
No you saw it in my response to a Drake passage question on my Nov. 14 report.

I stand corrected on the injury to the cook. The rest about having to clear the outside deck then forced to go to the rooms was on TGR...unless it was on Poachninjas. 8-[ Too many TRs in all different places, all good. =D>
 
The "Drake Shake" on Nov. 19 was sufficiently impressive that nearly everyone had something to say about it. Being a small ship, it rolled a lot on the first crossing Nov. 10-11. For the majority of us taking meds and having no seasickness issues, I think we got complacent. Walking around the ship holding onto the handrails didn't seem that different on Nov. 19 but we soon found out otherwise.
 
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