More Radio for Antarctica

March 04, 2008 in Antarctica, International Polar Year

Thursday I'm traveling to Central Pennsylvania--Harrisburg--to talk with Sandy Fenton on her radio show "Let's Talk Travel with AAA" about Antarctica: Life on the Ice. Harrisburg is near where I grew up, State College, home of Penn State (where I also went to college). It's in the Allegheny mountains that I first hiked--up Shingletown Gap--backpacked and rock climbed on small local crags. Wherever I end up, it will always be home.

Here is the press release for the radio show. Come listen!
On "Let's Talk Travel with AAA" from 3pm to 4pm Saturday on WHP-AM 580,
host, Sandy Fenton will feature "Antarctica : Life On The Ice" with
author , travel writer and outdoorswoman, Susan Fox Rogers.
Antarctica has become a very popular destination, especially for the
adventurer and the "been-there, done-that" experienced traveler.
Rogers spent six weeks on "the ice" walking in the footsteps of
Antarctic explorers and learning the ways of the penguin researchers,
ice diggers, scientists, pilots and others who are living in the most
foreboding climate imaginable.
A teacher of creative writing and first year seminar at Bard College,
Rogers is also the editor of 11 anthologies.
"Let's Talk Travel with AAA" can be heard online. Go to www.whp580.com
and click on "WHP580 Now Live Online."

Kayaking the Antarctic

January 29, 2008 in Antarctica, International Polar Year, Kayaking

If you have not been following Jon Bowermaster's trip by kayak into the Antarctic--you must (it's almost over!). The images of ice, penguins and seals are simply extraordinary and he describes the day to day of this five-week adventure in terrific detail, capturing in words and audio tapes the beauty of being in a kayak in such a place. Don't miss his audio in week 4 (Jan 22) when he talks about the sounds in the Antarctic. He says that sounds are what linger from the Antarctic. I'd agree with this. The silence (of course) but also wind, the movement of ice, the clang of penguins (you can hear the sounds of penguins in the video on the Hazards of Penguin Life--which is also very funny).

Being in a kayak in Antarctic waters--this is something I can not imagine (a slice of fiberglass separating you from water that hovers just above freezing...). If you watch the video clips you can see how careful they are in the boats; watch the video of paddling through pack ice.

In between the daily posts, Elizabeth K. Andre offers helpful information on ice, or climate change or katabatic winds. The albino penguin pictured here was seen on January 25--one of my favorite posts (week 4).

(Jon has a thrilling story in Antarctica: Life on the Ice about flying onto the continent with Adventure Network International.)

Christmas at the South Pole

December 23, 2007 in Antarctica, International Polar Year

Somehow Glenn Grant ("Shrink Rap" in Antarctica: Life on the Ice) has ended up at the South Pole after months of being off the map. He has been working on an ice breaker and has traveled to both sides--and the middle--of the continent. More to come on his adventures--I hope. Meanwhile, this photo shows that the inventiveness of Polies can not be beat.

Glenn's hilarious essay in the anthology is about the dreaded psych test, which all who winter-over have to take.

Book Passage Reading on TV

December 22, 2007 in Antarctica, International Polar Year

On December 7, Lucy Jane Bledsoe, Bill Fox, Kristan Hutchison, and Joe Mastroianni read (brilliantly) from Antarctica: Life on the Ice at Book Passage, the "Bay Area's Liveliest Bookstore." And it is a wonderful place, with a string of amazing readings and a terrific audience. The reading was filmed by ForaTV and you can watch it here.

The next day I swam outside (heated pool!) then visited with my high school friend Neil Wright (then known as Munch) and we relived the summer of 1979 spent climbing in Eldorado Canyon, Colorado. There were a few epics--Rosy Crucifixion--that we both remembered vividly. From time to time I still have nightmares about that climb... Neil practices acupuncture in Santa Cruz, is married and has two children he clearly adores.

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More Radio for Antarctica

Kayaking the Antarctic

Christmas at the South Pole

Book Passage Reading on TV

SUSAN FOX ROGERS