Glacier Climbing

During our ice-climbing foray, David and I took a boat-ride to Glacier Viedma where we cruised by icebergs and awed at the vertical edge of the glacier where ice meets water.

We lucked out and the two Brazilians who were supposed to climb with us overslept, so we had our two guides and the glaicer to ourselves. After a short demonstration on how use the crampons and ice-axes, we practiced top-roping up a gently sloped wall of the glacier. We quickly conquered our practice wall and moved on to more difficult ascents, ending at a crevasse with hard, neon blue ice and an overhanging wall. It was the first time our guides had brought any of their clients to climb it, and although I had both guides shouting in Spanish how to orientate my body (mueve tu mano izqueirda arriba y alado!) I only made it a bit over halfway before my muscles whimpered and gave up. It was super fun though and I look forward to more glacier-climbing once I get back to Virginia.

***On a sad note, I had to say goodbye to my faithful camera after it was knocked against the side of the glacier and fell into a small stream of glacier water. I don't think that falls under the warranty.