March 11, 2010
Day 9: Bad Ice
The bad omen of camping near really big pressure ridges carried through for most the morning. We seemed to be caught in a quagmire of massive ridges and small drifted pans. We all took turns leading trying to string together one flatish section of ice with the next.
'I thought it was very hard today,' observed Darcy. 'To make time pass a bit more easily, I hummed Farewell to Nova Scotia.' All told we managed to cover almost seven and a half nautical miles.
We each take turns navigating and breaking trail during the day. We've found that hour and a half shifts are optimal - any longer and we get cold and tired. Leading is definitely the most difficult task during our travel day. However, the other positions are important too. The second in line verifys the correct bearing, smooths out the trail and is a vital safety check keeping tabs on all the team. The last person's role is simply to rest and relax - seemingly insignificant but an important factor in conserving engery to be used the next time in lead.
We are now one-fifth completed with our expedition - although that is only a function of time. Even though we have been traveling for 9 days now, we still have 375 nautical miles - a figure that is both pleasing and worrisome We are pleased with our progress to date and have expected rough travel early on. Unfortunately our time line is finite as we have to be picked up by April 26th.
If you haven't already, you might want to add your thoughts to the ongoing climate conversation on Newsvine.
That's all from us. Freeze dried dinner, butter and Clif bars are calling..
The Save the Poles expedition is sponsored by Bing with major support from the University of Plymouth, Terramar, Seventh Generation, Goal0, Atlas, Sierra Designs and Optic Nerve.
Remember, it's cool to be cold. Save the Poles. Save the planet.
For more information, please visit www.ericlarsenexplore.com
For information about guided Antarctic expeditions, please visit http://www.antarctic-logistics.com/
For media inquiries, please contact lora@screamagency.com
For technical inquires, please contact webexpeditions.net
'I thought it was very hard today,' observed Darcy. 'To make time pass a bit more easily, I hummed Farewell to Nova Scotia.' All told we managed to cover almost seven and a half nautical miles.
We each take turns navigating and breaking trail during the day. We've found that hour and a half shifts are optimal - any longer and we get cold and tired. Leading is definitely the most difficult task during our travel day. However, the other positions are important too. The second in line verifys the correct bearing, smooths out the trail and is a vital safety check keeping tabs on all the team. The last person's role is simply to rest and relax - seemingly insignificant but an important factor in conserving engery to be used the next time in lead.
We are now one-fifth completed with our expedition - although that is only a function of time. Even though we have been traveling for 9 days now, we still have 375 nautical miles - a figure that is both pleasing and worrisome We are pleased with our progress to date and have expected rough travel early on. Unfortunately our time line is finite as we have to be picked up by April 26th.
If you haven't already, you might want to add your thoughts to the ongoing climate conversation on Newsvine.
That's all from us. Freeze dried dinner, butter and Clif bars are calling..
The Save the Poles expedition is sponsored by Bing with major support from the University of Plymouth, Terramar, Seventh Generation, Goal0, Atlas, Sierra Designs and Optic Nerve.
Remember, it's cool to be cold. Save the Poles. Save the planet.
For more information, please visit www.ericlarsenexplore.com
For information about guided Antarctic expeditions, please visit http://www.antarctic-logistics.com/
For media inquiries, please contact lora@screamagency.com
For technical inquires, please contact webexpeditions.net