Tracking
the Journey
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Distance to go:
0 Mi
Distance
Ben and Tarka will cover 1800 miles starting from Scott's Terra Nova Hut at the edge of Antarctica to the South Pole and back to the coast again. That's equivalent to 69 back-to-back marathons hauling up to 200kg each (the weight of roughly two adult men) of kit and supplies necessary to survive.
Distances here are shown in statute miles.
A Tailwind Teaser (Day 36)
Day 36: S82° 49' 9", E169° 55' 25.2"
Duration: 8 Hr 30 Min
Daily distance: 19.8 Mi
Distance to go: 1423.8 Mi
Temperature: -8 °C
Wind chill: -17 °C
Altitude: 174 Ft
Clearly it pays to be complementary about Antarctica's beautiful scenery as we were rewarded with a bit of a treat this morning: a surprisingly strong tailwind that blew us along for the first hour before fading away. It was great while it lasted, like having a benevolent giant's palm on your back, urging you along. With some predictability, the headwind returned with a vengeance this afternoon, slowing us to a plod. The wind giveth and the wind taketh away.
We swapped our skis this morning for the pair we each have with shorter, narrower skins - the strips of fabric that give us traction on the snow - and our second pairs go in the sleds (at some point we'll cut the fat skins down to make a second skinny pair). The skinnier skins offer better glide and higher speed but not enough grip to pull the heavy weights we had at the start, and with their help we managed to cover very nearly 20 miles today (just short of 32km) which means two contented but tired smelly tramps in this tent this evening.
I'm struggling to keep my eyes open so I'll sign off now. Thank you for all the comments and messages.
Comments
# George Chapman, November 30th 2013
Wow it’s really getting warm there -17C. Why do you think it’s warmed up so much. Two weeks ago it was -52C. I did not know the temperature would change that much. Glad to see all is going well and you are getting a lot more miles in each day. It will be interesting to see how you do when you get to Beardmore. I watched the video about Beardmore and it looks challenging. Take care of yourself and stay warm.
Following you on FB and Google Earth from Sunny Central Florida U.S.A. Todays temperature 70ºF at 5:45 PM EST.
To see a live cam from McMurdo Station
Click here: http://www.usap.gov/videoclipsandmaps/mcmWebCam.cfm
# Kristoffer, December 1st 2013
That’s because it didn’t. 2 week ago the temperature was -13 C.
# George Chapman, December 1st 2013
Your correct Kristoffer my mistake On day 5 it was -39C. That was 30 days ago. That’s still a big change -39C to -8C today. That’s good for them I’m sure. Thanks for keeping me straight.
George
# Phil Satoor, December 1st 2013
In one way your journey is a greater achievement than Captain Scott’s because he only started man hauling at the start of the Beardmore Glacier, whereas you’ve been doing it since the beginning.
# Ann, December 1st 2013
Wow! It must be gratifying - and exhausting - to crank out another day of so many miles. And exciting to now be so close to the Beardmore Glacier.
I wonder if you could tell us what it is like to be in one of the remotest and difficult to reach places on Earth and yet to have the world watching you.
Wishing you continued rapid and safe progress!
# Sabrina, December 1st 2013
Great job guys, keep up the good work!