Tracking
the Journey

  • 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.

Back in the Saddle (Day 71)

Posted January 3rd 2014,
by Ben Saunders

Category: Expedition, The Return Journey

Day 71: S88° 03' 14.04", E159° 10' 0.54"

Duration: 4 Hr

Daily distance: 9 Mi

Distance to go: 763.7 Mi

Temperature: -20 °C

Wind chill: -30 °C

Altitude: 10066 Ft

A modest day for us today (we slept for ten hours and skied for four hours after a pretty lazy start) and a correspondingly short update this evening as I'm on snow-melting and cooking duty.

Only now, after a lot of sleep and a lot of food, are we starting to realise quite how depleted we were a few days ago. It's still pretty fresh outside (-30 degrees C. windchill all day today) but our ability to generate heat and to carry out basic tasks outside in thin gloves (like zipping up salopettes after venturing out for a poo with a view) has increased dramatically, and I woke up warm this morning instead of feeling chilled and miserable.

Interestingly, Tarka and I have both gone from being almost unable to hold a train of thought, other than willing ourselves to carry on (and being haunted by food fantasies and cravings) to being able to daydream away the four hours we travelled today in relative happiness.

We'll do a full day tomorrow and should finish slap bang at the last depot we left, which is 21 miles (34km) away from where we're camped this evening. We were tantalisingly close to reaching it before we called for the resupply, but the more we reflect on things, the more I'm convinced the decision was the right and responsible thing to do, and even if we'd reached it on the verge of collapse, I'm not sure we'd have recovered at all before starting our descent of the Beardmore, a 180km stretch of technical, crevassed glacier where we have almost no chance of being reached by aircraft if we'd got into trouble.

We'll pick up our Pilot at the depot (our satellite antenna that allows to get online at far higher speeds than the phone we're using at the moment*) so we'll be able to read and respond to some of you then, but I know we received an overwhelming number of comments yesterday, and Tarka and I are really grateful for the support you're giving us.

You'll be glad to hear his thumbs are on the mend, and we're indebted to our doctor, Rob Conway, for his advice. A special mention also goes to Tony Haile for the best video message yet (Andy, my expedition manager, asked lots of friends and family to film short messages of support and we have them on the Ultrabook here, password-protected so Andy can drip-feed us motivation as and when we need it).

*To give you an idea of the difference, the heavily-compressed photos we're sending back by phone take about 25 minutes each to upload. In contrast, the Pilot sends a high-resolution photo in about a minute, and a 60-second HD video takes about six or seven minutes. We'll send a video back in the next few days...

Comments

# Justin Philips, January 4th 2014

Great news indeed! Keep it up! New question regarding resupplied food: Was it the same food you guys are carrying or is this different? If so what?

# Jane, January 4th 2014

I have been following your epic journey from Alberta, Canada, where we have also experienced this year wind chills up to -30 or more, so I can imagine how it must be for you both.  Great that you made the decision to resupply, I was quite concerned there for a moment when the blogs disappeared.  Keep trucking and I shall be following your journey to the end.

# Intrepid, January 5th 2014

Dear Ben and Tarka,

Glad to hear some strength has returned as well as Tarka’s thumbs are mending well!!  The photo looks as though something went flapping in the wind and scratched your face as well as the cold making some badly chapped lips… nothing to worry about ...

Hoping no aliens found your depot and it was right where you left it full of everything you need to make it to the next depot and over to Beardmore.

Looking forward to all your updates.

Godspeed!!

# Doug Neff, January 5th 2014

I’m so relieved to know you are both feeling stronger and making good decisions! Everyone that knows me has heard me tell your incredible story, and I felt a lump in my throat yesterday as I read your post. Please know we are with you both, with each step, and looking forward to your safe return.

# Sandra Price, January 5th 2014

My thoughts are with you daily and also with your families and friends who are living this adventure with you too.  They must be so relieved that you are safe.  You are truly inspiring.

# David Jensen, January 5th 2014

“I’m fed up with this wet weather in Epsom” I was thinking, when I then decided to catch up on a backlog of your blogs. They gave me a better perspective!!  As you should well know, your endurance, comraderie and good decision making will stand as taller testaments to the greatness men can achieve than mere matters of getting support or not, no matter how totemic that may have been at the outset. Ski on! David.

# Damian, January 6th 2014

Nice work gents, keep it going!

# Kate SCOTT, January 6th 2014

Go Benny go!!
You’re both doing a brill job!! Keep warm, keep safe & eat well. Big hugs to you both, kxx

# squeeze baines, January 24th 2014

Its one thing to possess a talent to write so movingly, and quite another to know when the time has arrived in life to make a huge dreaded decision and to get it right.  Your courage has given us all the chance to hope we might read more from your pen in years to come!  May the wind be on your backs.

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