Patagonia--Playing on the glacier

Before we arrived in Chile, I told John there were two things I wanted to learn when I was down there: how to milk a cow, and how to use an ascender on a fixed line. I even asked whether I could learn both on the same day. He replied, "It depends how long it takes you to milk the cow." At that point, John had a cow on his property. Unfortunately, that cow had returned to its owner by the time we arrived. It would have been near impossible to accomplish both on the same day anyway; the Nef Glacier is a 3-day hike from the ranch. So John promised that a cow would await me on the glacier. Knowing John, I almost believed it.

From the second campo on our trek, we set out for a day hike to one of the most accessible Northern Ice Fields glaciers. It took us several hours to reach another valley and climb up and over a seemingly endless field of rocks to then descend to the Nef. Monstrous, ever-changing, powerful--glaciers fascinate me.

almost to the Nef

reaching the Nef

Frank searching for the best way to get onto the glacier

Casey wins for best outfit

This was a "dry" glacier--there was no snow covering the crevasses. There was some good "slip and slide" on the route down as some of the "kitty litter" sand was covering ice underneath. Once we reached the glacier itself, though, it was easy to stroll around. We stopped to don our crampons, though they weren't entirely necessary until climbing up the fixed line.

Frank kindly brought all the gear necessary to set up a fixed line for me. I wanted to learn because I would be ascending a fixed line up a headwall on Island Peak in Nepal in late April. After setting a couple ice screws at the top of a short, steep slope and securing the rope, he described the basics of front-pointing and showed me how to run the ascender up the line with my right hand.

I then rappelled back down and practiced a second time. Very fun, but I imagine it will be a bit more challenging at 18,000 feet. The weather we had that afternoon on the glacier was some of our best during our entire stay. Spectacular. Now, about milking that cow...

Julie, Casey, Pablo, Tom