The Australian Iceberg

Portage Glacier

Jake on the rocks.

Scenic Views

Early morning and ice....and then disappointment. Dan and I walked over to the ice climbing festival early this morning only to find 3 routes about 10 ft high and one tent. Needless to say we were half asleep and unimpressed. Decided to head back to the lodge, get some grub, and walk out to the glacier again. Convinced everyone else to join in, good group bonding. Made it back in time to watch some of the ice climbing competition, which was more like 10 ft of ice at the bottom and then 100 more feet of rock, M6+. Most of the competitors didn't even make it to the top. Jake decided to sign up for the comp with the idea that it was on one of the smaller routes and was immediately told after paying his entry fee he would have to try the M6+ route. Haha Dan and I laughed our asses off. We took bets on how far up he would get, I said two steps on the rock and Dan said 3 steps. Fortunately we were both wrong, completely. It was some ugly mixed climbing but Jake got up to the half way before running out of time. Time to eat some grub and get ready for the intermediate ice climbing clinic tomorrow.