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.
It’s Never Easy (Day 5)
Day 5: S77° 56' 1.44", E168° 04' 20.46"
Duration: 5 Hr
Daily distance: 3.5 Mi
Distance to go: 1763.8 Mi
Temperature: -36 °C
Wind chill: -45 °C
Wind speed: 10 MPH
Altitude: 128 Ft
I think Tarka and I may well be the two grumpiest men in Antarctica right now, if not the Southern Hemisphere. Today has been really challenging. We woke up to a very cold morning indeed and just making breakfast involved swapping and fixing a faulty fuel pump in our stove, during which process we both got really cold fingers, and I managed to knock over my bag of rehydrating granola, spilling hot milk and bits of cereal all over my sleeping mat. We sleep on doubled-up Ridgerests, so I was able -on all fours- to slurp up the food from the little valleys in the mat before it froze to my bed.
Once we'd got up and taken the tent down, the conditions were the worst we've had yet. The ambient temperature wasn't far off -40 when we set off, and our fingers, toes and faces all got a battering. Tarka's toes are still painful now.
The surface was hellish, and we struggled to cover much more than a kilometre each hour, despite experimenting with shuttling the sleds - both pulling one, then returning for the second. Whatever we tried, there was no speedy way of making progress, and despite giving our all for the time we were in our harnesses, our distance today feels pitiful.
The weather went bonkers in the afternoon, with a really strong wind picking up from the south (so strong that it was hard to stand up, and that it nearly blew away a snow shovel) and we decided to call it a day early in order to check Tarka's feet, to sort out our kit and to get a decent night's sleep.
We've switched from Chilean time to UTC so we've been strangely jet-lagged since the start.
We had freeze-dried chicken dhansak for dinner, which was one of today's few redeeming factors. We'll see what tomorrow has in store for us (weather-wise at least; I can tell you it's beef stew on the menu).
Comments
# Jon, October 30th 2013
Well done guys, I’m sure you are just adapting to the change from all those sponsor dinners and celebratory Pisco Sours in Punta and it will take time to acclimatise to those harsh conditions.
After all you are on A quite a few weeks earlier than most expeditions and with -40 at those latitudes you are feeling the tail end effects of Winter/Spring before the A summer makes herself known to you. I’m sure once the weather warms up to an average of -20, the snow will be easier to haul your baby elephants through, hell you may actually get some glide.
When you are at your lowest ebb, remember what Apsley said “Take it all in all, I do not believe anybody on Earth has it worse than an Emperor penguin.”
Jon
‘No easy thing in life is worth a damn’
# Al, October 30th 2013
I spent yesterday in a hell of Microsoft Word crashing, “tracking changes” on documents, and doing a lot of shouting at my computer.
Try each day to look around and pick one thing from it to be grateful for - you’re in a special place doing a special thing.
# Janet Stanley, October 30th 2013
Stay positive & safe…sorry you’ve had a tough day…makes you appreciate the good ones!! Take care :)
# jamehand, October 30th 2013
Classic boy’s own adventure stuff guys! Enjoying following the expedition immensely and looking forward to the golden age of polar exploration getting a new entry in its annals after your successful return!
# Rich Townsend, October 30th 2013
Keep your spirits up, guys!
Can you tell us a bit about your stove? It looks like it runs on white gas, but have you made any modifications to get it working in the cold weather?
# Scott Expedition Team (Chessie), November 11th 2013
The stove is an unmodified MSR XGK EX, though it’s on a custom-made carbon fibre stove board. The cooking pot is a Primus ETA with a modified MSR heat exchanger. The stove runs on Coleman fuel (white gas) and Ben and Tarka use MSR titanium fuel bottles. Pic from Ben here http://scottexpedition.com/blog/one-week-in
# Audrey Alamo, October 30th 2013
NB Unicorns holding you up, and sending all of our encouragement! Stay strong. The joy will come later, knowing that you accomplished something so huge! Keep your spirits high. We recently had a class discussion about the morale of Scott’s men, and how that must have had a huge affect on the final outcome of their expedition. Find strength where ever you can! Beef stew sounds awesome!
# Kristoffer, October 30th 2013
I am helping a friend of mine write a book about Captain Scott’s Terra Nova expedition, and he will have a interesting thing to say about the morale of the Scott party. That’s why I found your mentioning of your discussion of the morale of the expedition overall (?) to be interesting.
# Mrs. Alamo, October 30th 2013
@Kristoffer, thanks for thinking enough to comment on my post! I’ll be looking forward to your insight about Scott’s team’s morale. And, of course my students will be curious to hear as well.
Thanks again.
# Kristoffer, October 31st 2013
Thank you Mrs. Alamo.
The book is nearing completion, and with luck will be published next year. I’ve been helping my friend with the book by reviewing chapter drafts and researching side issues. Keep watching this site, and I’ll let you know when it’s released.
# Bailey F, October 30th 2013
We are all happy for you guys at the NINTH GRADE CENTER.
FROM YOUR MIGHTY UNICORNS BAND AND MIS. ALAMOs Class of 2017.
# Darryl Fulgham, October 30th 2013
Just keep your heads up and stay positive nothing in life that’s worth it never comes easy!
-NB Unicorns
# sarah, October 30th 2013
Ben and Tarka - keep your heads up - the beginning is always going to be tough - I log on every day to see your latest blog and keeps the “adverturer"flame inside me alive as I’m logging onto my laptop at work and opening the first of many spreadsheets for the day!
# Miss Wetzold's 5th Grade Class, October 30th 2013
If I were you, I would turn around and come back home. But,we hope you will keep going and be the first people to complete the journey. You are brave and courageous. We believe you can make it all the way there and back! We send you good luck and best wishes and warmth!
# Sussex House School, October 30th 2013
We’ve been reading your entries in assembly and we’re all very interested in your progress. Still hoping you’ll build us a snowman sometime.
# midge, October 30th 2013
there’s a macdonalds two ks to your left .
keep positive guys there are a lot of people here thinking about you.
keep well keep safe.