Yellow tented harbor

I have seen waves before, out on the Blue Ice. Translucent, topaz swells undulate and interfere generating domical forms. Tiny, superposed, ubiquitous ripples reveal the relentless ravages of wind and sun. But out here, on the divide between ice sheet snows and plateau winds monstrous forms emerge. Large blue ice waves slosh and combine into protruding whalebacks. Massive, white sastrugi are raggedly sculpted into perilously perched fins. These contorted columns and canyons confuse and conspire towards another approaching oddity – in the distance, mighty and deep blue, a giant wave appears looming and rolling towards us, dwarfing tiny skidoos. The 100-year-storm wave, capped with frothy sastrugi, threatens to break. As we draw closer, the behemoth slowly subsides allowing us to gradually crest, where we gather ocean-borne treasures. Permitting us to be surfers on the massive swell so we can survey the deep trough far below, the expansive white-capped, blue ice surface beyond, and distant, snowy mountains framing a tiny, yellow-tented harbor.

Jani