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.

Flat Light (Day 30)

Day 30: S81° 17' 28.2", E168° 55' 40.2"

Duration: 8 Hr

Daily distance: 14.2 Mi

Distance to go: 1530 Mi

Temperature: -8 °C

Wind chill: -17 °C

Altitude: 164 Ft

Antarctica made us work for it again today. There's been a lot of fresh, drifted snow which made the surface far less slippery for our sleds, the wind was full-pelt into our faces all day, and we travelled under a blanket of thick, grey cloud. We had a few spots of complete whiteout, and when the sun did appear it was merely as a faint light-grey disc behind a thick veil that never parted. We had a flat light all day, with hardly any contrast or shadow, which makes navigation (we normally look for interesting lumps of snow on our bearing) particularly hard.

I had one emergency pit-stop in the afternoon, which is never much fun in the land of double-digit windchill, chest-high salopettes, giant mittens and no soap, running water or toilets. On the whole though, I think the hot curry did the trick as I felt far stronger today.

The one highlight of the day lasted about thirty minutes, when the cloud to our SW (ahead and to our right as we skied) lifted at the horizon to give us a brief but tantalising long-range glimpse of some mountains, not far off our bearing. They're a long way off (and probably the Nash Range, the Holland Range, or both) but the sight of land was enough to lift our spirits. I even did a little dance when Tarka was in the lead and I was sure he wasn't looking, though skis, poles and a harness limited my moves somewhat.

We were so determined to get a good night's sleep tonight that we spent a while building a chest-high curved wall, upwind of the tent. Tarka expertly cut blocks with our ice axe while I carried them over to the tent and turned his immaculate rectangles into a wall. Thankfully it's doing a brilliant job and there's a lot less buffeting and noise as I lie here typing in the tent. I thought of Scott and his men as I lugged the heavy blocks around; they used to build walls to protect their ponies in the same sort of weather, and it must have been incredibly hard work.

We're setting the alarm for 6am to try to get a nine-hour day in tomorrow (with food/drink breaks and the time it takes to set up and take down our tent, that means more like 12 or 13 hours outside) so I'll sign off now as I need my beauty sleep.

Comments

# Willie, November 24th 2013

A message for Ben, as I have someone sat next to me who wishes to pass on a personal message: “Hi Ben, it’s dad here, thanks for the call the other night it was a helluva surprise, really good to hear from you and that things are picking up.  Willie (Maureen’s son in law) is keeping me updated on you progress as I can’t get to a computer.  It’s good to see that some of my skills for block laying have rubbed off on you, had I known you would be building walls you could have borrowed my trowel and level.  Keep up the good work, take care, be safe, lots of love Dad x .  Dad signing off Ben, hope you enjoy the message, keep tucking the miles under your belt, regards, Willie

# Karen Tynes, November 24th 2013

I was wondering how you navigate on such a featureless terrain? What tech are you using to keep you on course?

# George Chapman, November 24th 2013

Ever wondered how Ben Saunders will haul 200kg and four months worth of polar kit and supplies to the South Pole and back on the Scott Expedition? Find out here about his all important sled….
http://youtu.be/2AhwAXJz3k8

# stefan, November 24th 2013

On your current distance cover we would guess having doubled distance overnight you have halved your weight? will you be revealing your depot weights at any point ? It is interesting to understand this extreme increase in distance to understand the full conditions.?

# Stefan, November 24th 2013

Hi George
Have LandRover financially sponosred this expedition - as they only say they have ‘supported’ - my understanding is this is different - I noticed there have been commentary asking if Ben and Tarka have self funded this Expedition -? Perhaps you are aware of this and are able to explain
Regards

# Austin Duryea, November 24th 2013

Good job on almost getting to land. What will you be doing for Thanksgiving?Will you be eating a lot?

# Mal Owen, November 24th 2013

Wishing you well with all things crossed for good conditions for your 9 hour trek.
I will never be able to partake of a jalfrezi again without thinking of Antarctica !

# Phil B, November 24th 2013

Good to see another good mileage - must be very encouraging and hope it can continue. Any idea what has made the difference? Is it better snow conditions or are you just getting better at pulling a sledge? It’s interesting to read the old books and see how bad they were at the start and how much better they got with a bit of experience.

# Scott Expedition Team , November 25th 2013

A mixture. Ben and Tarka will speed up as they get further into their journey and their sleds become lighter (with possible exception of the Beardmore Glacier and particularly poor weather). Better snow conditions have also helped.

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