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.
Round One Hundred and Two (Day 102)
Day 103: S78° 28' 59.05", E168° 30' 28.80"
Duration: 10 Hr
Daily distance: 23.7 Mi
Distance to go: 63.8 Mi
Temperature: -11 °C
Wind chill: -16 °C
Altitude: 161 Ft
This continent seems to be throwing everything it has at us in our final few days. Today we slogged away under heavy cloud cover again, luckily with a sliver of horizon that - as you can see in the photo - gave us a glimpse of Black Island and made navigating relatively easy, though that was the extent of our view for ten hours on foot. The contrast was too poor for us to see the snow surface and the mess of small ridges and sastrugi underfoot, and it felt at times like we were trying to cross a frozen ploughed field on rollerskates. I fell over hard twice, and even Tarka (who lives in the Alps, whose mother is a ski instructor, and who I believe had his first pair of ski boots fitted shortly after his umbilical cord was cut) stacked it badly this afternoon. We laughed at each other when we slipped over three months ago, but now we're like two frail old men, living in fear of fracturing something in a fall at the eleventh hour of this Goliath trek.
Despite our proximity to the finish line, our sheer exhaustion seems to be standing in the way of us getting excited just yet, and lying in the tent in the evening getting psyched-up for another day of the same after too little sleep is never easy. Tarka's pep talk this evening contained one of his best lines yet: "Mate, we've gone a hundred and two rounds with Antarctica and we've won every one of them. Tomorrow we're going to win round one hundred and three."
That's all for now, as I desperately need some sleep! We plan to do a "normal" day of 38-40km tomorrow and then a jumbo last day on Wednesday 5th, with about 30km before picking up our first depot, where we'll pick up one day's food, pitch the tent, scoff it all, sleep for an hour or so and then carry on for roughly 25km to the shore of Ross Island. Watch this space...
Comments
# Charles, February 4th 2014
Carry on and good luck ! Our cheers are with you for the final push.
Thanks for sharing this quarter of a year with us. We hope more will be coming on the post expedition.
Cheers
# Pavol Timko, February 4th 2014
Great photo today! Blue rock of a distant mountain which is like a lighthouse marking the end of your journey. Exhausted but winning. You gave a new slant on life to many. Thank you!
# MJB, February 4th 2014
Suffering, Round by round. The history is being written and made with each of your posts. As you stare the beast down, we push you on in the only ways we can from afar. This journey, alas, only you can finish. Keep going. Keep going.
# Sharyle, February 4th 2014
It’s been a delight to read your daily blogs and watch your incredible journey. The end is in sight. Please take care and be safe during the final kilometers. You’re almost there! Scott would be most proud.
# A Connor, February 4th 2014
Following your journey has been so inspirational!
Trivial question: how did you decide how long the line should be connecting you to the sled? Has its length changed at all through the journey?
# CaninesCashews, February 4th 2014
As of this morning this merry band of followers have amassed a fantastic 4000 blog posts over the last 102 days.
A growing community spread over many countries coming together for one purpose – come on boys not long now!!!
Gav
# dj, February 4th 2014
Mssr Cashew… you surely mean “4000 comments on your blog posts” don’t you? —Ben does the post, we do the comments (although some of them are long enough to have been a post if they had been published to their own web site).
# CaninesCashews, February 4th 2014
DJ you are of course correct.
# Paul Bower (Downe Arms hotel), February 4th 2014
Fantastic !!!!!!
# Year 2 at St.Peter's School York, February 4th 2014
We are Year 2 from St Peter’s School in York. We have been doing a topic called ‘To Boldly Go…’ and we think you are a perfect example of going boldly! We have read all about Captain Scott and we think it’s great you are following his route. Our school theme this term is ‘Endurance’ and it makes us feel that we want to be like you.
You have travelled so far. You are doing ashtonishingly well. Keep it up and we hope you keep very safe. We are SO excited that you are nearly there!
love from
2H and 2S
# Kat, February 4th 2014
Often I’ve quietly read these comments, thinking yes! perfectly put!...thinking I’ve got nothing to add to the well-felt well-thought thoughts of others. Maybe occasionally I get a little over-excited about those fabulous ginger-beards, or a little emotional as I do when I think of B & T’s suffering or safety…Or when I’m reminded of the incredible story of Scott, Wilson, Evans, Bowers and Oates. For those of us whose imaginations are captured by Antarctica, by Scott, Shackleton, Mawson, the Northern Party and all their men, (and the modern explorers, adventurers and scientists!) this expedition has been incredibly illuminating. I know from these blog posts and comments that I’m not the only one who is very touched by this expedition. Ben, your writing is heartfelt, clear and evocative (and frequently hilarious). Thank-you both Ben and Tarka, for your vision, and no-doubt prodigious thighs…and to your support team and sponsors AND to the crazy crazy technology which allows you to share all this with us.
I’m not a believer, but I want to wish you Godspeed. It seems the right word to use in this circumstance. Be safe, stay sound. We’re all with you with best thoughts and wishes.
# Richard Pierce, February 4th 2014
Had me welling up there, Kat. Thank you. R
# Intrepid, February 4th 2014
63 miles of skiing to go, 63 miles to go,
You ski some more, make tracks in the snow,
62 miles of skiing to go.
62 miles of skiing to go, 62 miles to go,
You ski some more, make tracks in the snow,
61 miles of skiing to go….
Dear Ben and Tarka,
Wednesday looks to be another epic 18+ hours kind of day. It would be fun if Google kept track of how many clicks on Antarctica and following the Scott Expedition took place. Hint….
Not necessarily that I am concerned, rather , I am quite interested in knowing - you carry an instrument which gauges altitude, does it have a horizontal range it calculates this for? When I look at Google Earth I can see that ice thickness varies. How thick does ice need to be in order to have a safe passage?
Best of luck as your body wavers and kerplunkity glides across the icescape….
Stay strong. Stay safe.
Godspeed!!!
with Abandon,
# Helena, February 4th 2014
Wonderful job and I can’t wait to see pics from the finish line, I hope someone will make a film of you two coming into the last kilometer of your journey including passing the Gate of Glory at the very finish line. If I was there I would be jumping there as a small kid yelling some catchwords of joy :-D
Enjoy your last kilometres even thought these are tough - you will certainly have many memories.
Great job, I am so pride of you :-)))))))))
friends from Brno, CZ
# Heidi, February 4th 2014
Hmmm…does anyone know where Andy Ward and Tem Doran are at right now??
# Andy, February 4th 2014
Sadly sitting behind a desk in London following Ben and Tarka’s progress as well
# Dave, February 4th 2014
I like London. :)
Will you see Ben and Tarka before they return there?
# Heidi, February 5th 2014
Andy, I’m sorry you aren’t able to be there to meet them when they finish. But, alas, I guess you’ve still got to handle all the logistics so they can return safely home. Thank you for being an integral member of this awesome team.
# Richard Pierce, February 4th 2014
Just adding to a comment I made yesterday in which I said that ending the expedition at Scott Base would seem most appropriate, I came across this from my novel, which reminded me of what a special place Scott Base is (as opposed to my view of McMurdo Station).
Birdie, by the way, is the main female protagonist.
“[Scott Base] has the touch and scent of being alive. It has a sense of history, and not just in the photos that line every wall, the age-worn noticeboards and the skuffed skirting boards. There have been adventures here. People have left from here and never returned. People have met here, and fallen in love or formed friendships for life. It breathes.
She’s sitting in the lounge, under a lamp that’s always on. It throws a yellow light over her face, colours her hair even brighter, even spikier, soaks into her cheekbones, her every tiny feature. The lounge, full of books and comfortable chairs, faces south, and the light is always on to guide Scott, Bowers, Wilson, Oates and Evans home. Birdie under the light is a guardian angel, the presence that could bring them back safely. What will we find of them when we get out to Cape Evans, where they left from, and never returned? Will there be anything tangible of them there, something to hold on to and carry with us until we, too, are lost?”
And thus, Ben and Tarka, and we, the watchers, too, will be lost somewhere in time, somewhere in the future. But the legend will persist, the legend of fact, a legend into which Ben and Tarka will have walked when their journey ends at the end of this week.
Go well, all of you.
R