Our 3rd Morning ashore was held on the low slopes of Danco Island where our guides quickly climbed a short steep section of ice about 300m away from the main landing of Danco Island to set up 3 different tope ropes.
These ropes were set up with increasing difficulty and everybody soon got to get into the ‘swing’ of things learning how to;
· Efficiently hold our ice tools in different configurations as the ice got steeper
· Make our crampons work best by getting the sharp front points into the ice with our Heels down
· Feel confident and relaxed enough to lean back on the rope and be lowered back to the start of the climb
The third rope set up took us up a short vertical section of ice – for those of us who felt up to the challenge, we made short work of this pitch, although our arms did feel quite ‘pumped’ from holding ourselves to the ice!
We even got the chance to get back to the main landing area and take part in the POLAR PLUNGE before once again returning to Plancius and getting warm and dry.
