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"IT WAS LIKE PLANET HOFF FROM STAR WARS"
Gleeson and Benton tackle a steep, icy ridge 3,650 metres up Mount Logan, Canada's highest peak. |
BY MIKE McNENEY
They missed the summit but that's okay with Tom Gleeson and Peter Kuhnlein, the UVic students who spent part of their summer climbing Mount Logan and collecting geological samples.
Their attempt&emdash;along with fellow climber Dave Benton&emdash;at the 5,959 metre Yukon peak &emdash;Canada's highest&emdash; was cut short by storms and gusting winds of 100 kph. "We don't feel disappointed about missing the summit," says a smiling Gleeson. "Everybody says they would rather have us here, safe."
Gleeson, Kuhnlein and Benton&emdash;all experienced mountain climbers&emdash;were within sight of the summit when the winds came. Without shelter, they turned back in the face of sudden temperature drops (to -30 Celsius).
The weather and the climb weren't the sole challenges. Day after day of desolate conditions took their toll.
"The terrain was inhumane. It was like planet Hoff from Star Wars," says Gleeson. "The biggest thing I realized was the long-term degradation of morale. You get burned out. Everything up there is strange and twisted. It's impossible for anything to live there."
Through the month of June, the only signs of life were a couple of lichens, one small grassy plant and a couple of bumble bees.
Personal cassette players helped lift spirits but breathing was also difficult, the altitude demanding a slow pace from the climbers who would otherwise quickly become winded.
Apart from the climb, there was scientific work to do.
Gleeson, who is completing undergraduate studies in the school of earth and ocean sciences, has a keen interest in neotectonics&emdash;the recent (in geological terms, within the past 30-40 million years) development of mountains.
Skiing across glaciers, the team collected rock samples the size of grapefruit from the edge of the ice. The uplifted rocks&emdash;now undergoing analysis at a lab in Australia to determine their age&emdash;will provide clues about how quickly the mountain is rising.
The results will be provided to the Geological Survey of Canada.
Funding support came from the UVic president's office, the centre for earth and ocean research and Robinson's Sporting Goods of Victoria.
Using skis, as opposed to the helicopters employed by professional geologists, was an encouraging experience for Gleeson, who plans to pursue post-graduate studies.
"[The Mount Logan expedition] might turn out to be a master's project. Skiing has proven to be a much cheaper form of field work&emdash;and that's what master's students do," says Gleeson with a laugh.
For now, Gleeson says, it's just good to be back home from the sparse elevations of Mount Logan. "Everything's so green. And it's so beautiful to listen to something like the CBC and to have dinner with friends."
