UPWIND STRUGGLE
By the time we were ready it was late afternoon and finally Gonzalo and Marco launched into the lake – both on 8.6s – and headed for the long slog over 12 km upwind. Meanwhile myself, Stefan, Motz and Billy loaded into the tiny rib and started punching into the chop with the wind blowing straight in our faces. An hour of hard graft later, after dropping Stefan on the land, we were almost there, hugging the coastline to keep clear of the worst chop. By this time it was blowing easily 30 knots and Gonzalo and Marco had flown ahead of us and were already close to the glacier. Finally we were almost there with just one headland to clear before we came in sight of the ice. Billy smiled and told us to get ready for the best view of our lives! As we popped out from behind the land, the glacier was right there about 1.5 km upwind, glowing ice blue despite the cloudy skies.