Occasionally, for good behaviour, the expedition and take-over members are allowed to venture down from Vesleskarvet and explore some of the surrounding areas. One such place is called the Crystal Palace due to the vast, blue-ice structures, which the wind has gradually carved into its frozen walls.
The Crystal Palace is located in the windscoop, which is on the left hand side of the nunatak, if you are facing Vesleskarvet. Windscoops are depressions reminiscent of an ice-cream scoop in the ice that are formed near obstructions, when the wind is deflected around it. Mountains, such as our nunatak, can host very large, spectacular windscoops.
It takes less than 20 minutes to get there, if you are making the journey by Skidoo, along the demarcated safe route. There are large crevasses in the vicinity, hidden beneath snow bridges, so it is important to observe this route and not to go off track.
The snow and ice fields in Antarctica flow slowly over the ground. In some places, the ground is very uneven, which puts great stress on the ice above. Crevasses are formed when the ice cracks and large fissures appear. These voids can be over 30 metres deep and anywhere from a few centimetres to 10’s of metres wide.
Once we step off the skidoos, there is a mad rush as people fumble with their gloves and cameras. The scene is absolutely amazing; hardened, blue-ice covers the ground and the wall of the windscoop towers into the sky behind us, blocking the sun. As we make our way towards the ridge-line, shrieks of laughter can be heard as some people lose their footing and fall hard onto their behinds. Right now, it is all fun and games; we take turns to run as far as we can up the hill and slide back down again. It takes a while for everybody to find their ice-feet before we push on.
At the top of the ridge we encounter our first crevasse. We have brought a small ladder along to traverse it safely so we all line up and go one at a time. The reason that crevasses are so dangerous is that you can seldom see them. The openings are regularly obscured by snow and ice that accumulates during storms. This forms a thin snow-bridge, which, even in good contrast, can hide the abyss below. The weight of a person can easily dislodge the bridge, causing him or her to fall into the crevasse. Nevertheless, peering into a recently opened crevasse is absolutely mesmorising; ice-crystals covering the walls, strong blue and dark purple colours below caused by the ice filtering the sun’s light as it passes through.
We make our way up the ridge, between the nunatak and the ice wall. The warm summer temperatures have caused the snow on the mountain side to melt, pool at the bottom and re-freeze to resemble a frozen pond. The ice is not thick enough for skating, only a few centimetres, and there is a layer of liquid water trapped between this top layer and another layer of ice at the bottom. As we walk across, the ice fractures into spider-webs and makes a squishing, crunching sound. It is like getting hold of bubble-wrap – you just cannot help yourself, you have to keep breaking. The broken chips, after quite a strenuous climb, do make a refreshing treat.
At this stage, the party has broken up into small groups and have begun exploring the area. Those that have brought their crampons with them, take this opportunity to climb up onto the ice wall and pose for photographs.
Of course, no journey in Antarctica is complete without enjoying a nice brew! At the top, we stop to relax and crack open a few beers, which have chilled nicely on the hike up. Cheers!
