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.
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
# Gord , October 30th 2013
Really enjoying reading about the adventure! Look forward to the daily posts and the excitement along the way.
And Ben - to answer your question yesterday regarding the pronunciation of Tryggve, I have a Norwegian sitting next to me in my office who happily informed me that it is pronounced like ‘Trugveh’ (with the u like the u in the French word Tu - not as in Two).
You might want to practice that a few times to help your face stay warm :)
G
# Christy, October 30th 2013
I found this blog 3 days ago and already I am utterly addicted!!! Your comment about slurrping up warm milk and and bits of granola from ‘tween ridges in yer ridgerest immediately flashed to mind the movie “Touching the Void” when all the frivolous mind clutter evaporates and what’s left is the present single moment of living/being/breathing, a reduction.
# Pete Casey, October 31st 2013
I don’t know -the lengths some people go to, to escape the British winter eh! :)
Good luck guys, hope the weather improves tomorrow and you also manage to eat your beef stew sitting up. Thanks for sharing the adventure.
# Sarah Fenwick, Expedition Psychologist, October 30th 2013
Hi guys, hope grumpiness isn’t letting your ‘dark sides’ get an outing ;-)
# Moshe from Israel, October 30th 2013
Chin up guys - as the Hebrew saying, all beginnings are hard ....it’ll get better!
# Bobby Saunders, October 30th 2013
I’m hesitant to state, “It’ll get easier,” because I understand what lay in wait ahead. Instead, I share with you both a mantra that I live by, which seems most appropriate: “Failure cannot cope with persistence!” Share your struggles here, with your supporters, and carry them not into the next day.
# Aidan Neill , October 30th 2013
Stay strong Ben…awesome achievement to be there. All the very best from a warm rectory grove! Aidan & Louise
# Bård Haug, October 30th 2013
Stay on guys! Good luck from Norway
# Mal Owen, October 31st 2013
Log in every night… You both look chirpy all things considering….... Better day ahead ‘After all, tomorrow is another day’
# Darcy, October 31st 2013
You guys can do it! You are an inspiration for achieving dreams!
# CaninesCashews, October 31st 2013
Hi guys, back from stormy Somerset to windy Welling.
Looks like you’re having a tough few days - best I can give you is William Arthur Ward, who said,“Adversity causes some men to break; others to break records.”
I’ve been following your efforts since 2008, and I know which one I’m betting on!
Thanks for the great updates guys - glad the tech is all working well.
Gav
# missie , November 4th 2013
what do you do with the rubbish from the food????
# Scott Expedition (Chessie), November 4th 2013
Hi Missie, Ben and Tarka will take their rubbish out with them.