February 17, 2014
Why having the right brush matters at the North Pole
I gave a presentation at CU - Boulder last Thursday that was my usual mix of ice and anecdotes. Prior to speaking, I spent some time talking with several of the students, one of whom, was actually planning on becoming a brain surgeon. In answering questions about my sport (polar travel), I had to stop short several times before blurting out 'it's not brain surgery'. It's not unusual for me to stick my foot in my mouth during any conversation, but this situation was particularly humorous as this young student, would at some point in his future life be cutting open people's skulls. You know, brain surgery.
If only I had been that focused at that age. Not surprisingly, all I wanted to do was go camping. Go figure. After college, I somehow managed to string together a series of random jobs learning one seemingly unrelated skill after another. How to use chain saw, create a 3 to 1 advantage in a 'Z' drag, write copy, overhaul my bicycle's free hub, snow physics.... Surprising to me, is the relevance of those experiences now. While I admire (and am envious) of the focus that many young students have and need. My early [read: ongoing] inability to choose a 'career' actually helped me obtain the job I always wanted: professional camper.
Ryan returned last week from short guiding a stint on Kilimanjaro. Coming back he flew over southern Greenland and was awestruck at the scene below: sheets of ice in a puzzle-like formation. He told me later that it helped make our North Pole trip more real (as if $150,000 in logistics fees wasn't real enough) as we would be skiing over similar pans of ice in the near future.
I made list roughly 10 pages long (I'm exaggerating but only kind of) of all the expedition related things that still need to get done before our departure on February 28th. I divided them up into relevant categories: tent/camp, clothing, sled, skis/snowshoes, etc. Under each of those main headings, I typed out what actually still needed to get done. While still an overwhelming amount of work, it's a finite list and we are crossing off tasks by the hour (like writing this blog post for example).
Not that it matters to you, but I did find the perfect tent brush. You see, the Arctic Ocean is one of the most difficult environments to simply camp in. It's so cold that at night we sleep in a three-layer sleeping system: vapor barrier bag, insulating -40 F down bag and then an outer 30 F synthetic bag. Additionally, our breath forms thick layers of hoar frost on the tent walls and our outer sleeping bags. Therefore, when we wake up in the morning, the first thing we do is take a brush (the aforementioned tent brush) and sweep all the frost off the tent walls and our sleeping bags so that ice doesn't build up on (and in) our sleeping bags - even though it eventually does. The tent brush I purchased today is the perfect combination of firm but gentle bristles, handle and light. Big win. Just saying.
But that's the thing about this type of travel. Ultimately, our success lies in our ability to manage the thousands of details that will save us time, energy and weight. No item is too small (or big) to evaluate. And then look at several more times.
Gear has been arriving daily to EL Explore world headquarters (my basement). Asnes skis, Wigwam Socks, Clif Bars, our custom sled covers made by Granite Gear as well as all the stuff sacks we need, our Bergans bib and anoraks, Skratch Labs drink mix... you get the idea.
Microsoft hooked us up with a new Windows phones - the Nokia Lumia 1020 and I have to say they are about as rad as it gets. 41 Mega pixel camera, awesome interface. Need I say more? OK, I will... the image quality from the camera is beyond belief. We also received a Panasonic Toughpad to track and share all of those expedition tasks I mentioned previously. Stay tuned for a very comprehensive list of all of our gear.
Image: Ryan's photo looking down through his plane's window near southern Greenland.
If only I had been that focused at that age. Not surprisingly, all I wanted to do was go camping. Go figure. After college, I somehow managed to string together a series of random jobs learning one seemingly unrelated skill after another. How to use chain saw, create a 3 to 1 advantage in a 'Z' drag, write copy, overhaul my bicycle's free hub, snow physics.... Surprising to me, is the relevance of those experiences now. While I admire (and am envious) of the focus that many young students have and need. My early [read: ongoing] inability to choose a 'career' actually helped me obtain the job I always wanted: professional camper.
Ryan returned last week from short guiding a stint on Kilimanjaro. Coming back he flew over southern Greenland and was awestruck at the scene below: sheets of ice in a puzzle-like formation. He told me later that it helped make our North Pole trip more real (as if $150,000 in logistics fees wasn't real enough) as we would be skiing over similar pans of ice in the near future.
I made list roughly 10 pages long (I'm exaggerating but only kind of) of all the expedition related things that still need to get done before our departure on February 28th. I divided them up into relevant categories: tent/camp, clothing, sled, skis/snowshoes, etc. Under each of those main headings, I typed out what actually still needed to get done. While still an overwhelming amount of work, it's a finite list and we are crossing off tasks by the hour (like writing this blog post for example).
Not that it matters to you, but I did find the perfect tent brush. You see, the Arctic Ocean is one of the most difficult environments to simply camp in. It's so cold that at night we sleep in a three-layer sleeping system: vapor barrier bag, insulating -40 F down bag and then an outer 30 F synthetic bag. Additionally, our breath forms thick layers of hoar frost on the tent walls and our outer sleeping bags. Therefore, when we wake up in the morning, the first thing we do is take a brush (the aforementioned tent brush) and sweep all the frost off the tent walls and our sleeping bags so that ice doesn't build up on (and in) our sleeping bags - even though it eventually does. The tent brush I purchased today is the perfect combination of firm but gentle bristles, handle and light. Big win. Just saying.
But that's the thing about this type of travel. Ultimately, our success lies in our ability to manage the thousands of details that will save us time, energy and weight. No item is too small (or big) to evaluate. And then look at several more times.
Gear has been arriving daily to EL Explore world headquarters (my basement). Asnes skis, Wigwam Socks, Clif Bars, our custom sled covers made by Granite Gear as well as all the stuff sacks we need, our Bergans bib and anoraks, Skratch Labs drink mix... you get the idea.
Microsoft hooked us up with a new Windows phones - the Nokia Lumia 1020 and I have to say they are about as rad as it gets. 41 Mega pixel camera, awesome interface. Need I say more? OK, I will... the image quality from the camera is beyond belief. We also received a Panasonic Toughpad to track and share all of those expedition tasks I mentioned previously. Stay tuned for a very comprehensive list of all of our gear.
Image: Ryan's photo looking down through his plane's window near southern Greenland.