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.
Photos from Greenland
We've spent the last few days in the office unpacking and downloading everything following our recent training trip in Greenland.
Here are a few photos from the ice.
Keep your eyes peeled for a short video to follow tomorrow on our YouTube channel.
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Comments
# Dionne, July 19th 2013
Hi!
You mentioned in your blog that you were going to be making adjustments and changes to your trip to Antarctica as a result of your experience in Greenland. What changes will you be making and why? My class are very interested to know!
# Scott Expedition, July 19th 2013
The main change we’re making is to the type of skis we’re using. After lots of testing in Greenland (a place that - even though it’s in the opposite hemisphere to Antarctica - is very similar to the environment and terrain we’ll be travelling through at the end of the year) we’ve switched from using traditional skis, which are long and fairly narrow, to a more modern type of ski that is shorter, wider and a lot lighter. The old skis were 190cm long and the new ones are 155cm so it’s quite a big change, and they’re about 300g lighter per ski, which should make life easier for us!
We’ve also switched to a slightly different type of tent and have gone from a dome tent to a tunnel tent. It’s about 1.5kg lighter, though we have to take more care when we’re pitching it to make sure it’s pointing into the wind. The tent has also been customised with flaps of fabric around its base (called valances) that mean we can pile snow up using a shovel to anchor it in position in high winds.
Lastly, we decided that we might get fed up with so much sweet food (energy bars and drinks) for four months and and took some dried meat (biltong) to test in Greenland. It was a big hit!
# Dionne, July 20th 2013
Thank you for replying! I will let my class know this on Monday, as they were very interested to know how you plan and prepare for a trip to Antarctica! This information is really helpful. Thank you once. :)
# Aaron Linsdau, September 16th 2013
Nice Wintergreen parka. That thing is absolutely bomb-proof! I’m curious what skis you ended up with. Anything to cut weight down but still keep efficiency is a magic balancing act! I loved the Asnes I used last year in Antarctica - they took an amazing beating and glued up well when I chipped off the epoxy overcoat to the wood core.
# Scott Expedition (Chessie), September 16th 2013
Hi Aaron. Ben and Tarka are taking a slightly longer version of the Ski Trab skis they tested in Greenland earlier this year. There’s a bit more detail in this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5KWYvgGPX4