Day 9 – Alaska igloo building

7am – we were already up and ready to pack the rest of the gear and go through a few more safety procedures. Our plane was booked for 12 (midday) but due to the clouds starting to set in over the mountain we were on hold. I wasn’t impressed – take a long at my face in the photos! It was only Phil, one of the Cameramen and myself going up and it really struck us that if this can happen going out, it could happen when we want to try and come back in. Our guide Nick had packed supplies for up to a week, which I laughed at, at first, now I realise he wasn’t much of a joker.

At 3pm we had the call that the plane was ready to fly. Journeying up to the Glacier was a magnificent sight. We hauled all the gear off the plane and then were left, stranded. Nothing was around us. No vegetation, no trees, no animals or even smells. While we followed Nick up to the best point to set up camp I realised I was coming up to 9pm and the sun was still blazing in the sky. It was going to be like this all night, which for the moment was a good thing. We began digging our shelter…6 hours later…something that resembled an ice hobbit home stood before us. Unsure that it would hold until morning, Phil and I had a very tentative sleep. Waking up after only a few hours I do remember being in awe of the beautiful blue beams shining through the snow.