http://blogs.BootsnAll.com/luke/ An austral summer at McMurdo Station en-us baogame@hotmail.com Mon, 18 Sep 2006 07:32:29 +1100 http://blogs.BootsnAll.com/luke/icicles/017722.shtml I just realized today that in two weeks it will be winter for Luci and I. And I don’t mean the pseudo-winter that we had this summer up at Boccalatte (lasciamo perdere, eh) but real true astronomical winter. No,... http://blogs.BootsnAll.com/luke/icicles/017562.shtml The weather improved slightly at the beginning of last week. Enough to increase our lunch counts but, since the climbing conditions were still affected by the previous weeks snow, overnight guests were still only a trickle. Because of the... http://blogs.BootsnAll.com/luke/icicles/017451.shtml The past two weeks have been complete contrasts. This time last week we were preparing for the onslaught of climbers that were to make our first full-house of the season. We ultimately had all our beds full and one... http://blogs.BootsnAll.com/luke/icicles/017385.shtml Sorry, but I don’t have any good pictures this week. We are coming up on our busiest time of year and between painting the building and taking care of guests I just haven’t been able to get away from work.... http://blogs.BootsnAll.com/luke/icicles/017347.shtml I don’t have too much to write this week. I have spent the whole week painting the façade and metal storm doors. The façade went pretty quickly but the storm doors dragged out until yesterday. There was a lot... http://blogs.BootsnAll.com/luke/icicles/017307.shtml Happy 4th of July. This week has been considerably slower than last. We had only one zero count night though. Compared to last year when we had 11 zero counts up to this time, we are still doing well.... http://blogs.BootsnAll.com/luke/icicles/017239.shtml Happy birthday Mom! Despite a string of intense thunderstorms, we have had a steady flow of guests here at Boccalatte. Last night we had our busiest night of the season so far: 16 guests. Two came down unannounced from... http://blogs.BootsnAll.com/luke/icicles/017161.shtml As of last Wednesday, Rifugio Boccalatte is officially open for the climbing season on the Grandes Jorasses. Luci made a convincing argument to open by helicopter. We came up to Valle d’Aosta on Monday and stayed with our friend... http://blogs.BootsnAll.com/luke/icicles/017033.shtml I passed the motorcycle safety course, got my permit and got the motorcycle endorsement on my international drivers license. Now I’m more legal than usual to drive my ageing 1991 Honda Transalp xl600vm. I have been spending quite a... http://blogs.BootsnAll.com/luke/icicles/016650.shtml After meeting up with Luci at Auckland International we boarded the plane for LAX and then on to Denver where we met up with our friends Amy and Eric. It was a bit of a shock being back in... http://blogs.BootsnAll.com/luke/icicles/016645.shtml OK. I guess I need to catch up a little. We have been super-busy and I have been having all sorts of computer problems. I finally broke down and bought a junker Sony Vaio PictureBook C1VN (my notebook of... http://blogs.BootsnAll.com/luke/icicles/016411.shtml I am just about to check in for my flight back to the US. Jesse and I have been doing some mad hiking over the past couple of weeks together. Luci, out of fear of being trapped in a... http://blogs.BootsnAll.com/luke/icicles/016285.shtml With McMurdo behind us we face the long spring pause between jobs. We are here in NZ for a month from the 3rd of Feb to the 6th of March. Jesse also, coincidently, is flying back to the states... http://blogs.BootsnAll.com/luke/icicles/016199.shtml Today we fly back to NZ. The pace in McMurdo has reached fever pitch and we are getting out just in the nick of time. We have spent the week polishing up our end-of-season reports, putting away our gear... http://blogs.BootsnAll.com/luke/icicles/016164.shtml Back in Town. I am sitting in the coffeehouse writing this. As it turns out someone made a mistake and realized that we needed to pulled out before the twin Otters leave the continent on the 7th of February....