November 25, 2018
Day 1. Whiteout Slog
Over the past 20 years, I've become a connoisseur of whiteouts. Well, not a fan actually but rather an assessor of the subtleties of each whiteout. Some come and go. Others, the light is flat but you can see the horizon. And still others are like being on the inside of a ping pong ball.
Today's whiteout was a combination of all those and more. For a while, I was able to keep the two Nunataks that I was skiing in between in view. But even they disappeared. I saw the horizon but lost it and even managed to sight on a couple of snowdrifts. Eventually, I succumbed and got out my compass bracket and spent most of the day, head down, trying to line up the correct bearing as the needle bounced around (and as a consequence my route).
My Garmin inReach tracked 16.1 nautical but I only made 14.3 North. Disappointing progress considering my goal, but decent if you factor the conditions, soft snow and the fact that I was climbing most of the day. I'm not going to lie, it was hard going all day long.
I called Maria and the kids yesterday and my daughter asked when I was coming home.... a tough thing to hear and it weighed on me all day as I skied. I hate these first few days of an expedition. The self doubt and loneliness are strong at this stage. I am going on the assumption that I will work through like I have so many times before, but the emotional cost of what I do on both me and my family is something I'm still trying to figure out.
While a day's weather is not an indicator of climate. I am surprised at the warm temperatures (around 10 F) and the regular snow storms of the past week. Unusual for sure. This is not the Antarctic of my first expedition here in 2008.
The sky lightened for the last two hours of my day and I was able to sight off of bright white sastrugi (wind sculpted snow drifts) which made skiing significantly more enjoyable. As far around as I could now see, the beautiful snow of Antarctica stretched to the horizon.
Today's whiteout was a combination of all those and more. For a while, I was able to keep the two Nunataks that I was skiing in between in view. But even they disappeared. I saw the horizon but lost it and even managed to sight on a couple of snowdrifts. Eventually, I succumbed and got out my compass bracket and spent most of the day, head down, trying to line up the correct bearing as the needle bounced around (and as a consequence my route).
My Garmin inReach tracked 16.1 nautical but I only made 14.3 North. Disappointing progress considering my goal, but decent if you factor the conditions, soft snow and the fact that I was climbing most of the day. I'm not going to lie, it was hard going all day long.
I called Maria and the kids yesterday and my daughter asked when I was coming home.... a tough thing to hear and it weighed on me all day as I skied. I hate these first few days of an expedition. The self doubt and loneliness are strong at this stage. I am going on the assumption that I will work through like I have so many times before, but the emotional cost of what I do on both me and my family is something I'm still trying to figure out.
While a day's weather is not an indicator of climate. I am surprised at the warm temperatures (around 10 F) and the regular snow storms of the past week. Unusual for sure. This is not the Antarctic of my first expedition here in 2008.
The sky lightened for the last two hours of my day and I was able to sight off of bright white sastrugi (wind sculpted snow drifts) which made skiing significantly more enjoyable. As far around as I could now see, the beautiful snow of Antarctica stretched to the horizon.