Saturday, December 19, 2009

Castle Rock Ski Loop

Becky and Meghan. Meghan just left the Ice early because she got accepted into nursing school in Boise, Idaho starting January.
The Kiwis have a small ski area with a rope tow. Most southern ski area in the world. I did three runs. The Castle Rock Ski Loop goes right by it.

Robert, Flip, Don, Deany and Jules. A lot of people ski or hike the loop on Sundays. Beautiful scenery. A good place to go to get away from people - but you wouldn't know it from this picture. There is a bit of hiking before you can ski. The trail up to Castle Rock is pretty hard packed, so you might as well walk.


Me on the road from the trail end at Scott Base back to McMurdo



Castle Rock. You can climb it. The little red hut in the distance is called an "apple" or a "tomato". There are two of them on the Castle Rock Loop. They are emergency shelters with food, sleeping bags and a phone for if weather turns bad or if someone gets hurt. We are allowed to use them as a rest stop. It's nice to stop and have some water, a snack or a beer. Jules, the skier on the left in the foreground, skis the loop every Sunday and has been coming down here to McMurdo for thirty years. Shes a heavy equipment operator and was one of the first women to work at McMurdo. As you can imagine, she has some great stories.




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