Climb Every Mountain...

Well, not every mountain, and in this case not actually a mountain. Just a tall island.

It was a beautiful day here today. Warm (-8.8 degrees, so warm compared to -30 degrees), sunny, and calm. Having been watching the forecast for a few days I decided to ride out to Welch Island with my mate Robbie, as we were both keen to get a few photo's from the top.


Welch Island from the sea ice.

So, after lunch quad bikes were loaded with our survival packs and also a tray bag containing a "quad recovery kit" (for self rescue from a tide-crack or when bogged in snow) and a "quad bivvy" (a tent type shelter you can erect between two quads in the event of rapid deterioration of weather).

We set off just before 1pm, and fanged across the sea ice towards Welch. A stop around the corner from station was suggested to photograph a berg that has a hole through the end of it that resembles a giant bullet hole. Soon after this we arrived at Welch, logged a radio call with VLV Mawson to report that we were off the sea ice, and then began the climb. Welch is only about three kilometres from station so it doesn't take long to get there.

The giant bullet hole.
From the other side it is almost perfectly round.

The climb is normally easy, unless like us you don't know the easy way. Instead Robbie and I zig-zagged up the steepest side, finally realising the easy way would have been to walk up an obvious spur (obvious when we crossed onto it about fifty meters from the summit!). Never mind, it was a good climb and meant I could change my plans of going to the gym when we returned to station.

The view from the top, looking toward station,
Casey Range in the background.

The views from the top were worth the effort of getting there. It is another place that I was able to enjoy the serenity, not a sound could be heard, other than the odd crack now and then from moving sea ice. The complete silence is one of the things I get great enjoyment from here. After half an hour or so at the top it was time to come down. It was an easier downwards path we took so we were soon back at the quad bikes and off across the ice to check out some seals. No pups in this group, so onwards we travelled, via a couple of patches of blue ice which gave us the opportunity to practice "skid control" on slippery ice (that the politically correct term for "we did some doughies").

After only two hours we were back on station and unpacking the quads. Such a small effort for such an awesome Sunday afternoon. Knowing how easy it is now I will do more of these sorts of quick trips in an effort to make the most of the time we have left here.


Zoomed photo of Mawson Station from a mile or so out on the sea ice.