March 1, 2010
In Resolute
We managed to fly out of Iqaluit early yesterday afternoon and now have made another definitive step. We are in Resolute... And most of our gear is here too! We are still missing our cheese, salami and bacon. Hey! Who stole my cheese?
It was with substantial heartfelt relief that we arrived at the South Camp Inn and a warm dinner. We were almost living on microwave 'pizza pops' as Darcy called them. Ozzie who runs South Camp is famous in the polar world for his hospitality and outfitting capabilities. He seems to know everything that happens in Resolute before it happens. Need flares to scare away polar bears? Ozzie has them. Wondering when the next cargo flight is due? Ozzie knows. Latest ice conditions... You get the picture.
There are also several other expeditions staging right now for departure and it is nice to be able to compare and contrast gear, logistics, techniques and more. One of my polar heroes, Richard Weber is here as well. He completed several historic polar journeys. I feel very honored to be in the company of such a great.
I wanted to sneak a little geography lesson in if you don't mind. Resolute, Nunavut Territory, is Canada's second most northern most community and is located on Cornwallis Island. There are no roads to Resolute. Vistors must come by air, sea or ice.
If you were to take a walk outside right now, here are a few things you might see. Click on the cold and snow pictures and you'll begin to get a feel for what its like here. http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=resolute+nunavut&go=&form=QBIL&qs=n
We had another fairly decent night of sleep and then were back to the task of packing. Our plan today was simple: to pack all our breakfast and lunch into pre organized bags.
To give you an idea of how this process works, let me introduce AJ, who will take you through packing a typical breakfast. He writes, 'first, all the ingredients have to be taken out of their packages, weighed and then divided into equal shares per person for the duration of the expedition. Then starts the process of making individual daily packs.'
'Oats, milk powder, brown sugar, butter and jerky need to be weighed and added into an individual bag, a total of 60 per person (accounting for each day on the ice) which, if I've done my math correctly, is 180 breakfast bags. The same needs to be done for lunch and dinners. It takes a great deal of time to weigh individual ingredients out and it is a very fine balance to cater for a healthy diet under arctic conditions and for the weight of food to carry. Too much and we won't be able to move our sleds, too little and we'd quickly loose our energy and fail to complete the expedition.' We are hoping this careful planning pays off. While we try to use hard numbers and calculations, a successful expedition is still just as much art form as hard science - which is why we pay diligent homage to both pursuits. One of my many polar mottos - hope for the best, but plan for the worst. We can ill afford even the smallest of mistakes at 45 below.
Our success at packing is only tempered by our futile efforts to get Darcy to smile for pictures. His Manitoban pragmatism supersedes all other emotions. Our efforts now have focused on simply saying a funny word or phrase to turn Darcy's frown upside down. Clowns we now know, are not funny in Darcy's world.
Due to our delay in Iqaluit we are also delayed for the next leg. It turns out that we may not depart for northern Ellesmere until March 3rd. We are anxious to start but could also use an extra training day. If anything changes, we'll let you know.
If you haven't already, you may want to join the conversation on Newsvine. While I may blog about other expedition topics, there is an ongoing climate discussion and interesting new articles recently posted. Go to http://ericlarsenexplore.newsvine.com/ to read new additions by Chris Miller and Lynae Anderson.
Picture: Darcy putting on his pack boots in the Resolute airport. Yes folks, that is a slight grin!
The Save the Poles expedition is sponsored by Bing with major support from the University of Plymouth, Terramar, Goal0, Atlas and Sierra Designs.
Remember, it's cool to be cold. Save the Poles. Save the planet.
For more information, please visit www.ericlarsenexplore.com. For media inquiries, please contact lora@screamagency.com. For technical inquires, please contact webexpeditions.net
It was with substantial heartfelt relief that we arrived at the South Camp Inn and a warm dinner. We were almost living on microwave 'pizza pops' as Darcy called them. Ozzie who runs South Camp is famous in the polar world for his hospitality and outfitting capabilities. He seems to know everything that happens in Resolute before it happens. Need flares to scare away polar bears? Ozzie has them. Wondering when the next cargo flight is due? Ozzie knows. Latest ice conditions... You get the picture.
There are also several other expeditions staging right now for departure and it is nice to be able to compare and contrast gear, logistics, techniques and more. One of my polar heroes, Richard Weber is here as well. He completed several historic polar journeys. I feel very honored to be in the company of such a great.
I wanted to sneak a little geography lesson in if you don't mind. Resolute, Nunavut Territory, is Canada's second most northern most community and is located on Cornwallis Island. There are no roads to Resolute. Vistors must come by air, sea or ice.
If you were to take a walk outside right now, here are a few things you might see. Click on the cold and snow pictures and you'll begin to get a feel for what its like here. http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=resolute+nunavut&go=&form=QBIL&qs=n
We had another fairly decent night of sleep and then were back to the task of packing. Our plan today was simple: to pack all our breakfast and lunch into pre organized bags.
To give you an idea of how this process works, let me introduce AJ, who will take you through packing a typical breakfast. He writes, 'first, all the ingredients have to be taken out of their packages, weighed and then divided into equal shares per person for the duration of the expedition. Then starts the process of making individual daily packs.'
'Oats, milk powder, brown sugar, butter and jerky need to be weighed and added into an individual bag, a total of 60 per person (accounting for each day on the ice) which, if I've done my math correctly, is 180 breakfast bags. The same needs to be done for lunch and dinners. It takes a great deal of time to weigh individual ingredients out and it is a very fine balance to cater for a healthy diet under arctic conditions and for the weight of food to carry. Too much and we won't be able to move our sleds, too little and we'd quickly loose our energy and fail to complete the expedition.' We are hoping this careful planning pays off. While we try to use hard numbers and calculations, a successful expedition is still just as much art form as hard science - which is why we pay diligent homage to both pursuits. One of my many polar mottos - hope for the best, but plan for the worst. We can ill afford even the smallest of mistakes at 45 below.
Our success at packing is only tempered by our futile efforts to get Darcy to smile for pictures. His Manitoban pragmatism supersedes all other emotions. Our efforts now have focused on simply saying a funny word or phrase to turn Darcy's frown upside down. Clowns we now know, are not funny in Darcy's world.
Due to our delay in Iqaluit we are also delayed for the next leg. It turns out that we may not depart for northern Ellesmere until March 3rd. We are anxious to start but could also use an extra training day. If anything changes, we'll let you know.
If you haven't already, you may want to join the conversation on Newsvine. While I may blog about other expedition topics, there is an ongoing climate discussion and interesting new articles recently posted. Go to http://ericlarsenexplore.newsvine.com/ to read new additions by Chris Miller and Lynae Anderson.
Picture: Darcy putting on his pack boots in the Resolute airport. Yes folks, that is a slight grin!
The Save the Poles expedition is sponsored by Bing with major support from the University of Plymouth, Terramar, Goal0, Atlas and Sierra Designs.
Remember, it's cool to be cold. Save the Poles. Save the planet.
For more information, please visit www.ericlarsenexplore.com. For media inquiries, please contact lora@screamagency.com. For technical inquires, please contact webexpeditions.net