Day 46: Inspired to Greater Heights

Dec 26, 2006

Hoarfrost crystals in the tent's vestibule.

Today's weather was very nice, with sun mixed with clouds, and a light wind (3-5 mph) from the east. Because the wind was very light, the cold (-22C) did not bother us.

The double sun is still with us.

Switching leads.

Showing the frost on the inside of my goggles. The lenses are iced-over too. The ice is the result of sweating and we try to regulate that as best we can, by adjusting our layers and opening the zippers. Meanwhile, we both carry two pair of goggles, and when one ices up, we switch to the other pair. When we don't think we will need the iced-up pair again that day, we retire them into our sleds, where the ice never melts. So we sometimes have to wear the used pair backwards on our heads. Worn this way, the ice will melt in two hours at best. When it does, we switch again. But note that strong winds do a good job of preventing the sweating and the iced-up goggles. The icing occurs when the winds are light.

We've been climbing about 150 to 300 feet a day, and we are currently at about 8,300 feet. So technically we are on the polar plateau. But we still have about 1,000 feet to climb, as the South Pole is at 9,300 feet.

The sastrugi was rough about half the day, but not bad otherwise. But we had 1 to 2 inches of powder snow on the ground, and that made the sledging more of a workout.

As of yesterday we were 3/4 of the way, and this evening we have 149 miles left.

A cold lunch stop. Because of the cold, a real quick lunch stop.

We are using a Garmin GPS with lithium batteries, and it is the only piece of our tech gear that will withstand the cold. It comes out of my inside ski jacket pocket often covered in frost and ice, and yet it works every time.

As I ski along, I think constructively on all sorts of topics. One of them is a book I plan to write, tentatively titled "My Pic'ho Story." This is a personal story of an unfortunate injury that happened a little more than a year ago (2006-09-20); of how I recovered from it; and of how it inspired me to greater heights. In the last year we have climbed our local mountain Pic'ho more than 100 times, learned to kite ski, and gone to Greenland for sledging and kite skiing among several other trips. And now here we are in Antarctica! I think the story will be of interest to the general audience, not just outdoor types. This book will not be about philosophy, religion, spiritual transformation, or even wilderness connection. It is about real events.

Evening camp: S 87° 48.974' W 86° 28.521'

Today's mileage: 12.3

Altitude: 8390 ft., Temperature: -22C

Day 47: Double Sun

Dec 27, 2006

Antarctica's double sun.

Jenny:

We've had the double sun for a week now, off and on. Today it lasted almost all day, and at times it was so bright we could not look at it for long, even with our goggles on. It felt like staring at a welding arc.

We had not heard about this double sun phenomenon, and to experience it first hand was awesome. We think it is found in other parts of the world, but not with such intensity.

To complement the double sun, the day was gorgeous. We skied along admiring the endless stretches of whiteness, negotiating sastrugi fields, and glancing back at the double suns.

As the afternoon wore on, the northeast wind began to bite more fiercely. We knew the temperature was dropping, but the sledging was keeping us warm enough.

As usual we kept our rest breaks very short - just long enough to drink some water, eat a slice of salami and a small piece cookie bar, and then put a few hard candies in the mouth for on the go.

As the day wears on, the double sun is swinging around the horizon - from our left side, to behind us, then to our right.

By 6:20 pm we were ready to find a campsite and quit for the day. But we had entered an area of tightly-packed sastrugi, it looked like a frozen class 3 rapids on an immense river. These sastrugi rapids went on and on, stretching out to the horizon all around us.

We figured that if we kept going we would either find a small, flat, level tent-size area, or we would reach the far end of this sastrugi field.

After nearly an hour we finally found a small area suitable for camping. But ahead to the south, and indeed surrounding us on all sides is what feels like an immense ocean of sastrugi.

So we put in an 11-hour day today, and just about reached 88 degrees. When we stopped for the day at 7 pm, the temperature was minus 30 degrees C.

Beautiful halos in the sky, caused by ice crystals in the upper atmosphere The one on the right is the classic 22° halo. The rainbow on the left is a 46° halo, a very unusual phenomenon. The approaching lower clouds are about to engulfed us, and they brought flat light that made finding camp difficult.

Evening camp: S 87° 59.649' W 86° 36.223'

Today's mileage: 12.3

Altitude: 8540 ft., Temperature: -30C

Note: Congratulations to the four-man team "Polar Quest" the British Royal Navy & Marines, who reached the Pole today, December 27. Link. We didn't know these guys very well because back in Punta Arenas they hung out at the miliary base. But after reaching the pole (46 days travel) they took another three weeks to kite back to PH.

Day 48: Eight Degrees Down, Two To Go

Dec 28, 2006

Today was cold and a bit windy, making it doubly cold. The wind has been blowing from the N to E quadrant for a week, which is highly unusual. The sky was mostly cloudy, but when the sun appeared it brought with it a double sun.

Fifteen minutes into our day we crossed the 88 S parallel. Eight degrees down and two degrees remaining.

Another very unusual phenomenon where the ice crystals in the upper atmosphere enlarge the sun and shift it down towards the horizon, making it appear lower in the sky.

We had camped last night on a big sastrugi field. Today we found that it went on and on. We did not reach the end of it until 1:00 pm. After that, the going was a bit easier, with larger gaps between sastrugi.

By 4:00 pm the clouds had engulfed us and the light went flat. And, we entered another sastrugi field, a repeat of yesterday evening, it seems, although today it was on a hill which increased the effort even more.

And like yesterday, we reached the end of our day, but not the end of the sastrugi field. Fortunately we found a campsite after 20 minutes of looking.

It was a good day, and it also is good to be in the shelter of the tent, even though it is a bit cold inside because of the wind and the lack of sun. But we are toasty warm wearing our working clothes, and relaxing under our quilt.

Evening camp: S 88° 09.595' W 86° 05.281'

Today's mileage: 11.5 in 10.3 hrs

Altitude: 8760 ft., Temperature: -25C

Note: Congratulations to our good friend Hannah McKeand who has arrived at the South Pole today, setting a world record for her solo and unsupported journey of under 40 days. Link

Day 49: Skiing in the Tropic of Antarctica

Dec 29, 2006

The wind was 10-12 knots (at times) northwest for most of the morning. In the afternoon the wind quit, the sun came out, and the temperature increased to a balmy minus 12 degrees C.

We carry our water bottles in thick insulated stowbags so the water doesn't re-freeze. And these stowbags stay in our sleds.

For the technically minded, we have cut the eye openings of the face masks extra large to reduce sweating under the goggles. Note the icicle hanging from the scarf.

Skiing in the Tropic of Antarctica.

For the first time on this trip I was able to ski without my face mask on. (This lasted only 20 minutes or so, and wasn't a luxury but a necessity to reduce sweating.) We both wore our dark glasses today instead of goggles because they handle the fogging problem better in warm weather.

Also, for the first time on this trip we enjoyed a leisurely, sit-down lunch (sharing a bowl of granola), without feeling very cold.

In the late afternoon the wind piped up to 2 or 3 knots and that suddenly ended the feeling that we were in the tropics. It's amazing how little wind it takes to let you know you are back in Antarctica.

Ice crystals in the upper atmosphere making the sun appear much larger.

This photo is out of focus but it does show how I melt the ice from my face mask every evening, by laying it on top of the lidded pot that is melting snow.

We heard during our evening call to Base Camp the belated news that the British RAF "Southern Reach" team had to be evacuated. This had happened six days ago, a few miles east of our present location. One or more members of the team experienced serious frostbite during their first day of travel, and subsequent cold spells worsened their condition. info">. This was the same storm that had frost nipped our legs. And the staff at Base Camp had warned all of us not to travel in such conditions.

Evening camp: S 88° 19.581' W 85° 37.077'

Today's mileage: 11.6 in 10.5 hrs

Altitude: 8870 ft., Temperature: -12C

Day 50: The Sun's Antics

Dec 30, 2006

East wind 10 mph, no direct sun but occasionally we could see our shadow. Morning sastrugi: rough, afternoon sastrugi: moderate along with flat light.

It was a cold day, but by keeping moving we stayed warm. The wind was behind us, which made our goggles fog. We switched leads every hour, so the day went by pretty fast.

The Sun is up to it's antics again, appearing a great deal larger than it usually is. Thank goodness for the GPS, because using a sextant would get you nowhere. The stars are not visible and the sun is not always where it seems.

Jenny putting blocks of snow into the vestibule.

Every evening before retiring into the tent, Jenny chops blocks of snow and stacks them in the vestibule where they will be handy. These are our water supply.

Melting the ice out of our boots.

If you had made a map of our progress according to the ten inch line, (see previous updates) we are now half way between 88 and 89 degrees, with 102 miles remaining.

Evening camp: S 88° 29.933' W 85 17.707'

Today's mileage: 12.0

Altitude: 8970 ft., Temperature: -20C

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