December 6, 20010 Exercising a virtue.

There are times when I understand almost nothing being said by my team mates. "Are we talking about cricket?" I will ask.  Invariably the answer is ¨yes¨. Such was the case at breakfast this morning.  A huge biannual grudge match is underway between the cricket teams of Britain and Australia.  It is called The Ashes.  Just to get a rise out of Guy who is constantly seeking updates, I'll ask, "So what's the latest with the Cinders?"  Politely, he corrects me.  I asked the lads to explain cricket to me.  This they did, with the greatest contributions coming from Guy and Phil.  Steve, who grew up in Milwaukee, acted as translator likening many aspects of the game to its bastard son baseball.  In the end I found cricket both interesting and boring for the same reasons as baseball, and doubted I would give an afternoon to either, were it not for the food and drink.
There is a team two weeks ahead of us dug in at high camp, unable to summit owing to powerful winds strafing the peak.  We empathize with their plight, but have no interest in joining them. Thus we remained at Vinson Base Camp today rigging sleds (or sledges as Ernest Shackleton calls them), practicing our rope work and refreshing the snow anchor techniques used in crevasse rescue.  Almost anything I know about this type of expedition was taught to me by my brother-in-law Ty and the other members of my Denali team 3 years ago.  Weather permitting, we will move to low camp tomorrow.  The packs will be heavy, the sleds will be heavier. But we will be working and so, for that time at least, warm.