RWSE Day 13: Heli Flight to Tabular Berg

The scout helicopters lifted off from the Ortelius helipad around 7:00a. Their mission was to find us a landing site … somewhere near the ice shelf.

Turns out that even though the weather was perfect for helicopter operations, there just wasn’t enough contrast … essential in order for the pilots to be able to identify surface details and ensure safe landings.

Fear not. They found an alternative to the ice shelf … a tabular iceberg nearby.

Once the expedition team reconnoitered the ice … and the mountain guides on the team confirmed the flat top was stable and safe, the order was given to commence heli ops.

First up … transferring equipment to the landing zone to set up a base camp. Then it was time for the passengers to fly. Mui and I were in group two, so we didn’t have to wait long for our turn. Some of the ship’s crew and staff had a chance to join us on the iceberg as well.

The flights were more than a simple transfer from the ship to the landing zone. The pilots took us sightseeing — or rather, ‘ice-seeing’ — as well. We flew high above the pack ice; we skimmed low over it for a closer look at the icebergs gripped by the pack. We flew fast … we flew slow. We flew straight … banked left … banked right … and we gave up on trying to keep the horizon level as we tried to capture the amazing vastness of the icescape with our still and video cameras.

After we landed on the iceberg, we had about 30 minutes to wander freely … within the established perimeter, of course. It was simply amazing. All the more so because we were flying in groups of eight, thus there wasn’t a crowd. The experience was very peaceful .

We have walked upon glaciers on past expeditions, but walking atop an iceberg was unique … the landscape white all the way to the horizon, except for the blue of the sky and the tint of color in the icebergs.

We didn’t want to leave when the helicopter returned to take us back to Ortelius. But we did. The day was young, after all, and EL Sara was bound to have more outings in the works for us to make the most of our ‘good-weather-luck’. What they were … well, we’d have to wait to find out.Læs mere