Day 17–Musical Icescapades

May 30, 2010 4:59pm


Enjoying a cup of soup waiting for wind

N64°24.890 W46°20.333

“If we wanted to go fast, we could have taken a plane,” was the reply imparted onto me by my young friend. After sharing those words of wisdom, Eric showed me some tricks to keep the kite in the air in low downwind conditions. Kiting is naturally amped in powered up conditions. In marginal winds, especially heading downwind, while dragging heavy cargo through wet snow, it’s about as much fun as stumping your toe. Not only is it a lot of work just keeping the sail in the air, but the angle of travel forces a constant zigzag at really low speed, and the miles covered are abysmal. “Still better than pulling”, I kept telling myself. One saving grace was the music. A shout out to my friend DJ Isaiah Martin who outfitted me with a pimped out iPod before leaving. This, especially today, made travel a long shot more pleasurable! After just over two hours we had barely covered 13 kilometers. And then the wind shut off completely. Steaming from the effort, we set up an outdoor open camp: that is without the tent. We made soup, and sat in the snow and waited for conditions to pick up. And we waited. And waited. Eric took a nap. And I exhausted every possibility I imagine with shooting wide open ice! Key to that exercise are shots of the sastrugi that I am cataloguing for my friends at the NSIDC (National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado). After that, I danced for a while, by myself, in the great white yonder! And I wondered: how many people get to claim having danced by themselves on such a vast white dance floor? Well, that’s the power of music!

After two hours of such belly slapping good times, and with no sign of the wind, we decided to raised the tent and–what else?–nap! Home, sweet home. If the conditions change, we will ride again through the night.

2 Responses to “Day 17–Musical Icescapades”

  1. sophie says:

    You are really amazing! Soon

  2. No doubt a good playa for Burning Man’s northern franchise, Freezing Man.

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