Shelter

With cloud descending, temperatures rising and snow falling, the occupants in the Ruth Gorges base camp are motionless Ð horizontal even.

Sat in the oven that is my tent I look out the door and view our clagged-in home. Our base camp is a well-organised fortress that has taken some hard graft to prepare. After the tiny single prop plane had dropped us off on the glacier deposited all our kit into one giant heap and taken off to disappear into the bluebird sky the sense of isolation two days ago was very real.

With Jon and Matt this was nothing new and they quickly galvanised us all into action with the most important job of creating some shelter. We started by humping loads down the glacier for about half-a-k to a spot that would be home.

The perfect camp is a recipe that takes several hours to prepare:

1. First probe the site methodically to test for any hidden crevasses. The last thing you need is for a tent companion with a Òhot-seatÓ to melt through a snow bridge and deposit you into the depths of a glacier.

2. Dig off all surface snow, shovelling up the sides of an area about the size of a squash court. Stomp down surface to create a rock hard base, preferably by line dancing in your skis.

3. Pitch tents with their butts in to the wind. Matt and John have their own tents. Adrian and I are sharing. Adrian doesnÕt snore, toss about, talk in his sleep and use his pee bottle every five minutes. He is the perfect tent companion. All three orange tents are very regimented and provide a friendly warm glow inside and out.

4. Down tools, brew up and drink tea and discuss at length how the Black Diamond Megamid cook tent should be pitched. This requires a lot of thought, a subterranean pit with the snow cut into foot wells, benches for food and a table for cooking on and supporting central pole. Inevitably this will need some substantial snagging work.
5. Dig latrine area some way from camp. This needs a clean-cut corner to pee in and a small igloo to store the stinking Clean Mountain Cans (Your personal port-a-potty that must be appropriately named. Someone - no guesses who - has labelled mine ÒJohnny Badass BakerÓ).

6. Create a small quarry off site and cut snow blocks with snow saw and build fortifying wall around camp to keep the keen wind and drifting snow at bay. MattÕs way is blast the quarry into some open cast Armageddon, JonÕs approach is that of a stone mason with perfect blocks laid with spirit level eyes.

7. Stand back wipe the sweat, put some layers on and admire handy work.

8. Call back the contractors and work through Magamids snag list.

Something blonde sticks its head out of the middle tent: ÒCheesy Muff?Ó shouts Helliker, disturbing me from my bubbly-blogging. Time to eat, skin-up the skis and head out on patrol and see what lies beyond the fortress.