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Skiing the Frozen Continent of Antarctica: Part 8 (Ship of Fools) | Doug Stoups Ski Cruise 2009, Antarctica | 05/27/10, by Dark Star

In Part 1 of "Skiing the Frozen Continent of Antarctica", Dark Star gets the opportunity of a lifetime to go backcountry skiing in Antarctica.� Part 2 (The Martial Glacier) picks up with a ski report from his first turns of the trip in Ushuaia, Argentina.� Part 3 (The Drake Passage) details his adventure heading South, and Part 4 (Land Ho!) describes his first day of skiing on the Southern-most continent, and Part 5 (The Lemaire Channel) one of the skiers on the trip fell into a crevasse!� In Part 6 (Somewhere Off the Antarctic Peninsula), Brennan's group took it all in- visiting a penguin rookery and skiing more first descents.� In Part 7 (Unloading the Pack in the South Shetland Islands), Brennan was able to enjoy a day of free skiing without the heavy pack that he carried while supporting the Warren Miller film crew.�

That night I realized that the dream that felt like it would never end was quickly coming to a close. The next day would be our last to ski. However, not too many people seemed to care that night as news from our fallen friend was good; he had arrived back in Rochester, New York and was in high spirits ready to do it all over again. Also, tonight there was going to be a party. Not just any party, "The White Party".

I'll spare you the stories for fear of something coming back to haunt me, but it was a scene to say the least. The bartenders could barely keep up with the one hour open bar, and seeing as everyone was dressed in white, from the robes that were left in everyone's room to utterly ridiculous outfits others either creatively put together or brought from home, there was a lot of raging that went on till dawn.

Though I kept it relatively chill at the party, I still managed to have enough drinks to make me feel horrible in the morning. But I knew this was the last day I could ski and Tom and crew told me they were all set for help for the day, thus leaving me another opportunity to free ski. Problem was most everybody was trashed and decided to go visit a seal sanctuary in the morning and come back to ski later in the afternoon. With all due respect to the seals, I wanted to ski, and as I scrambled to find a group, the lyrics from a favorite song kept running through my head, "The bottles stand as empty, as they were filled before. Time there was a plenty, but from that cup no more".


Luckily there were two groups heading out and I was able to jump on and have a great day. The others who chose to visit the seals never got back in time to turnover and ski, but I did hear about some polar swimming with several passengers taking the plunge into the icy depths of the ocean. I was content with my decision to ski, as even though we only got two laps in on fairly mellow terrain it was another classic Antarctic fake out where what we ascended looked like it was so short yet a few hours later we were roping up to boot to the top wondering why it had taken us so long to get there.


The view from our last objective on Livingston Island was as unique and beautiful as everything else from the trip. I sent some thanks out to the universe and dropped into an Antarctic line for the last time (of this trip anyway). Loaded back on the boat, people came up top to hang out, share a smile, and reflect on what had just gone down.

We all got together on top of the ship for a group photo and just like that the Ship of Fools was headed back to South America, and I was about to switch gears for a little more adventure in Patagonia.


Unexpected Bliss
The Martial Glacier
Crossing the Infamous Drake Passage
Land Ho!
The Lemaire Channel
Somewhere off the Antarctic Peninsula
Unloading the Pack in the South Shetland Islands
Ship of Fools
Another Powder Day in Ushuaia and the Epicness of El Chalten (coming soon!)