In the last year I've quit my job, worked the south pole, toured New Zealand, worked in talkeetna, Alaska, had surgery, and in relation to this blog, gained about 12 pounds.
Last summer had some great mountain biking, a trip to moab, some more 14ers, and at the end of September a call from the Antarctic program informing me that I'd be needed there should I choose to accept the job. Over the following months I packed up my house, rented it out, and flew south. My original plan was to spend 12 months at the south pole, but just a few weeks into my stay an old medical issue came up and I was told I'd have to leave at the end of the season to get it fixed. Below is the geographic south pole around the solstice.
In Feb I left south pole and spend a month or so touring around new zealand in a bongo van. NZ is the most beautiful country I could imagine. I could spend years between the islands and not see everything I wanted. Below is a shot of Wanaka, NZ from the top of Mt. Roy.
After NZ I spent 2 months tapping birch trees in Alaska for Kahiltna Birchworks, working for the legendary Mike East. We were put up at a small B&B called "the eye of Denali" just outside Talkeetna, AK from April 1st to the end of May. This was a truly unforgettable experience. Below: Delani, Hunter, Foraker taken from talkeetna.
After Alaska, a bit of the fun came to a halt. I had surgery at the end of July and have been more or less shut down for the last 6 weeks. Only recently have I been able to get back on my bike and start working out again. I'm up to a hefty 206lbs. My house is still rented out, so I can't move back in there right now. I'm currently working through the physical qualification process to head back to Antarctica. Seems like it hasn't been that long, I'll try to keep up with this before I leave, and if things work out well maybe I'll actually be able to keep up while back on the ice. Cheers.
