Author: alanpolar

Not sure why today was hard, but it was, a hard 26km . The weather was great – bit of a stiff headwind for the most part, but clear skies and amazing visibility. There were no massive sastrugi to write home about either.

I guess there was still a lot of soft snow around; the winds had picked up and a lot of spin drift had been blown around. There was also lots of… messy ice. Like very choppy seas (not massively stormy though!) just frozen. The makings of bigger sastrugi that will come over time. Pulling Sledmund through it all was just tiring. I guess the morning sessions were hardest, still going uphill through the end of the 83rd degree. I didn’t take any painkillers in the afternoon, which also didn’t help I think as I really was feeling it in neck and shoulders again by the time the day ended

84 Degrees South

As got to S84 (yup, I am now nicely into S84! More than two fifths through!!!) it got flatter, but I was happy to camp at the end of it all. It’s so cool looking at how have progressed on the GPS map… can’t believe that have made it this far, and getting so close to the end goal!

Food Bag Mishap

There was just one minor mishap as I camped… I have now opened a new main food bag!! (I have five main food bags, four with meals for 10 days, and one with meals for 11 days – it’s quite a big occasion to open a new one!!! Less weight in Sledmund!!) As I opened it, I discovered that the ziplock bag with the protein shake powder had either a leak or not been closed properly….need to see exactly what happened, and while I didn’t lose much, it still meant lots of protein powder everywhere! Argggggg!

A bit tired to write much about routines and everything! Though if there is anything anyone would like to know more about with the journey and all it’s aspects, feel free to say!

Song of the Day

Song of day on endless repeat in increasingly insane mind… While Echoes did make an appearance, it got pushed out by Little China Girl (David Bowie version not the Iggy Pop one (which is still good!)) Also, George Ezra, Budapest played a few times! I understand that some great suggestions have been made for other songs; will check shortly!!

Photo: the top of the food bag!

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27k day

Today was bit of strange day but was good with some mixed conditions; perfectly still for some time then increasing winds. Very clear at some points then threatening whiteouts at others before clearing again. It’s now quite cloudy. Lots of messy ice and sastrugi followed by whole stretches without any sastrugi at all. I can’t remember that happening before on this journey.. maybe at the start, but nothing as definite as this! Then plenty of still deep fresh snow slowing things down. That immediately followed by nice compact snow patches where I was able to slide along quite nicely! Overall though, I was pleased with progress. Another 27km skied, and getting closer to the halfway mark!

Contacting Mateusz again

In the morning, Mateusz started a little before me and we said hello again as i packed up my tent and sled. He doesn’t seem to be feeling that much better and his sled keeps overturning, which from experience is extremely frustrating. It really is, and it slows you right down as you have to keep going back to turn it the right way up. And it’s heavy. I caught up with him towards the end of my first session and now am not sure if we’ll see each other again before the end of the expedition. Hope he manages to get through his illness and feel better soon. Must be super tough.

On pacing and mileage…

You might have noticed a little obsession with (aside from sastrugi!) distances covered each day. It’s definitely a big concern. Altogether. To get to the Pole, I need to ski around 700 miles / 1130km / 10 degrees (600 nautical miles). And I have only limited supplies to be able to do this. I brought 51 days’ food and fuel so, to be able to manage, I have to average around 24km per day. This excluding up to five rest days. Obviously at the start, when the sled is at its heaviest and there the steepest climbs up from Hercules Inlet. It is expected that people will be slow at the start, then we need to speed up as time goes by and the sled gets lighter.

At the same time, it is important not to overdo it. Nice consistent distances though at the same time, distances reflecting the conditions. Whiteouts and soft snow inevitably mean harder days. While it’s fine to go out in them, you can’t overdo it as those conditions (and soft snow especially!) just sap energy.  These conditions can be treacherous when there’s lots of sastrugi about. When the snow improves, visibility is good, you do need to lay on the mileage! Just not to the point of exhaustion! I am aiming for 25km/15.5miles day at moment, and if I can get 1-2km  more than that each day. That little distance adds up, after 10 days, there’s around half a day’s extra travel.

Food Supplies

So, I have around 360 more nautical miles left to the Pole. And around 24 days’ food supplies left. That means on average I now need to travel around 15nm (around 29km/18miles) per day for the rest of the journey. It will be tough. It’s borderline about whether I will need to request a resupply for 2-3 day’s extra rations… which would be a shame to have to do… not the end of the world, but a shame.

I will try my best. The sled is getting lighter meaning that hopefully I will be able to get up into the 30kms/day or so again more frequently, so there’s a good chance. I will have to see how I get on in the next few days.

Photo: the trip computer on my GPS. Only showing distance to the next waypoint, which is at Thiel Corner, so still plenty more to go after that!

song of the day your suggestions please!

Song of the day in head… For the third day running… Pink Floyd, Echoes!

On the subject of Pink Floyd, what are your ten favourite of their songs..?! Also, I need another song to go around in my head on endless repeat..! Any suggestions..?!

Please support Ben’s chosen charity Cancer Research UK https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/ben-weber1

So after a few days struggling against the elements, I have been able to get back to making decent progress again. At the start of the day it was still tough: a lot of fresh loose snow was around still, making it hard to drag the sled. But with the wind, the sun and time, the snow gradually became more settled and compact by the afternoon. I was able to push myself to get back to just over 25km. Really did feel like a solid day’s work! Didn’t feel exhausted like yesterday, but felt nicely tired as I put up the tent and the cottage pie for my evening meal was perfect!

Meeting Mateusz

Remember when I started, and Mateusz, a Polish explorer, started at the same time? He had gone off ahead when I started to get my neck problems. I caught up with him today. It was nice seeing him and we chatted a little. He’s feeling unwell and having to take antibiotics for a cough, so is feeling a bit weaker than normal. Things like that just make a tough expedition even harder. Hopefully he’ll feel better soon and be able to get back to full speed. Super nice guy!

Skiing routines and not overheating

One of the mantras from my polar survival instructors a good 10 years or so ago was “If you sweat you die!” It’s one of the main things I try to pay attention to when skiing here. The body is working so hard, pulling the sled, it generates a massive amount of heat and it’s easy to sweat despite the cold. I always try to open up my layers if I sense I am overheating; also pre-emptively open them up-better to be on the cool side of warm! It’s nice knowing roughly what temperature it is outside before leaving the tent as well. This, so you know if you need any extra (or fewer) layers on. It is a hassle adding or removing a layer once you get started especially because of the harness that I wear. This also involves messing with my compass mount, so taking it off and putting back on… can be annoying!

Daily rations on the move

As i mentioned in an earlier post, I have eight ski sessions, four lasting 75 minutes, four of 60 mins (though today I added an extra 15mins to a couple of the afternoon sessions meaning I skied for 9.5hrs in total). Between each session, I have a break lasting 5-10 minutes during which I eat the snacks that I prepared back in Punta Arenas: 200g of chocolate; 2 battle bites protein bars; one chia charge energy bar; 100g of nuts; 80g of dried fruit; plus 30g of peanut M&Ms (essential!!). Plus around 250ml of water from the nalgenes. I have to make sure that I don’t eat everything all at once, to make sure I have enough for the day ahead!

7,000kcal energy use

During the fourth break, rather than a snack, I have the lunch (a rehydrated meal) that I put into a food thermos flask in the morning. It makes for a nice change as I always add a bit more water than I need to, so it’s a good warm soup that’s easy to eat.

It is really so important to keep eating and drinking water, even if you feel like you don’t need to stop. The body literally is craving food and calories and is spending up to 7,000kcal a day. This needs replenishing, constantly!

Other observations!

The sastrugi seems to have diminished quite a bit… Shame they couldn’t have done that during the whiteouts!! There are still plenty littered around, but… for the moment at least… not so bad. Though it’s amazing how quickly the terrain can change.

Colder in Carrbridge!

Still can’t believe how here is so much warmer than Carrbridge! -20C there last night..?! Between -12C and -17C here over the next few days! Why can’t there be decent winters in Scotland while I am there..?! Last year was pretty poor, and now it’s making Antarctica look positively tropical!

Photo: Mateusz! Fancy seeing someone else in a place like this..!

Music of day in head jukebox… Still Pink Floyd, Exhoes am afraid. Such a good song! I dunno but this place seems to make me think of it; that haunting desolate feeling!

Please support Ben’s chosen charity Cancer Research UK https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/ben-weber1

I said the other day that I would be happy if I skied more than 25km… hmmm…

I didn’t get anywhere near that today; just over 20km… but I am pleased. It was probably one of the hardest days, physically speaking, since the start of the journey.

Rampant Sastrugi

I was extremely grateful when I woke up that the whiteout from the last couple of days cleared, with bright sunshine once again. The sastrugi continued as rampant as ever, just sitting there being annoying! Even with the clear skies, they still proved to be a bit tricky to navigate around. Fortunately no real problem there and no falls today. Looking at the messy ice all around me made me imagine how it would have been had I continued yesterday. I am sure that it would not have been pretty at all. The sastrugi will have their revenge (again… and again!) sooner or later, and undoubtedly the last laugh!!

15cm of fresh snow

But back to the point, rather than my endless ranting about man-eating sastrugi. Yes; a tough day! It was the fresh snow. With around 15cm of snow over the last 24 hours… it was just a constant slog to pull Sledmund through it all.  It all felt like constantly going uphill, and then with the drifts going to my knees again, and getting the sled through them… and then again and again and again… it was draining. Even with the sunshine and being able to avoid the falls. I can’t remember looking at my watch so many times hoping that it was time for my break or the end of the day!

Food glorious food

So, just had dinner now; some sort of chicken with something and something. Whatever it was, it was nice! 1,000 calories to cheer me up. Plus my 60g of cheese and 50g of cooked meats. And crackers. And cookies. Oh and protein shakes and hot chocolate. Quite a feast! Still hungry though…!

Photo: for dinner just pour the bag of dehydrated food into the flask, add boiling water and… ta dah!!

Song in the head for the day: Pink Floyd, Echoes

Advent calendar chocolate: Famous Grouse… hummm chocolate! Did I say an hungry..?!

Please support Ben’s chosen charity Cancer Research UK https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/ben-weber1

Okay so today wasn’t a great day. It was a day that lasted all of two and a half hours.

I knew it would be hard, with constant snow over “night”, the continued whiteout, the invisible sastrugi! But it wasn’t fun either.

Snowdrifts

The snowdrifts – also invisible until you ski into them – often went up to my knees, and the sastrugi (though not so many as many were buried under those same drifts!) we’re still lurking. It seemed like I was spending a massive amount of energy, going nowhere fast. And oh yes, Sledmund was not being very cooperative in the midst of all of this!

So, after a bit of a nasty fall which left me sprawling on the floor for about a minute or so before I could bring myself to get my skis off and back into my feet, I called it a day. I felt the fall through my neck and shoulders, and it wasn’t pleasant for sure! I managed 6km in that time, which felt like snail’s pace and I was exhausted. (Listen to Be’s audio blog for further description of the conditions)

A short day

I hate “wasting” days like this; frustrating for sure. But I think my body is grateful. I have been making decent distances over the last nine consecutive days, so the extra rest is nice. And the extra time will help me recover further to continue onwards. There is plenty of more work to do, and still time. I heard that at least one other team nearby didn’t make a move today because of the conditions, which helps me feel a little better about the decision as well. It has been nice, just chilling out in the tent, sleeping and listening to audio books.

I can hear the snow outside again, which makes me dread tomorrow’s conditions! Though apparently, according to the Garmin InReach weather forecast, it’s meant to clear up and have some sun tomorrow, which will be nice as at least I’ll be able to see the obstacles!!

Morning routines and water for the day.

Generally I get up around 6am. Once I psyche myself up to get out of the sleeping bag. It’s quite hard taking the eye mask off and immediately that bright Antarctic light comes streaming in! I quickly put on my light down trousers and jacket, and get the stove lit. I just boil water from one of the thermoses straight away so I can make my breakfast. Breakfast is normally one of several different types of porridge or granola. There is also the choice to have scrambled egg and caramelised onion! Once the water is added to that, I pour the water from my two nalgenes and remaining intyo my  thermos. I then add some extra snow into the kettle. Altogether I need to have 4 litres of water for them and in addition an extra half litre to add into my food flask for lunch. I also have an additional half litre just for some drinks before heading off. And brushing teeth of course.

Once eaten breakfast and the kettle is heating up, I sort out the tent and all the stuff sacks that I had brought in overnight. And pack up the sleeping bag and bedding system. I just need to get everything ready so once the kettle is boiling, I can turn off the stove, fill the bottles, and be ready to leave. I also need to change into my outdoor layers; swapping my down trousers for lighter windproof layers, and get my big outdoor boots on.

Toilet arrangements

It’s worth mentioning (am sorry!!!) that of course, toilet needs to be done as well! Fortunately, my bowels have got into a rhythm that I can… relieve myself before heading out. I didn’t mention when talking about the tent routine that when I dig the kitchen pit at night, I always make one end of it much deeper than the other. That’s so I can do my business there and then cover it all over with snow. So much better in the vestibule than outside!! Seriously, one of the main causes of frostbite is people going to the loo, with all the exposure to the cold entailed. Not fun!!!

Taking the tent down

That’s about it. Taking down the tent is relatively straightforward. You just need to push all the snow off the snowflaps with your feet, definitely not shovel as you’ll cut the tent!. Then take the pegs out, leaving the ones on the wind facing side in until last and it’s almost all done and then roll up the tent. Get everything into the sled; harness on; compass mount on waist… and you’re good to go!

Photo: a fine view of the void outside!

Advent calendar liqueur of the day: Cointreau

Song of the day: sorry, no tunes went into head today as just trying to concentrate on getting out of snow drifts! Then listened to more chapters of Children of Dune once tent was back up! Loved the joke JoJo Ha ha.

Please support Ben’s chosen charity Cancer Research UK https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/ben-weber1

Well, back to the grindstone. I always knew the good conditions over the last few days wouldn’t last and today the weather did indeed change. Return of the whiteout! All day, and it’s snowing now.

Change of wind direction

The winds have changed with some northeasterlies – until now they have always come from the south, mainly south south west but occasionally from south south east as well. At least it meant for a “tail wind”, not that that helped at all! The change brought the heavy blanketed cloud that made it impossible to make anything out in the snow, making it a pretty challenging day.

Sastrugi – detailed description of hellstrugi

As you might have guessed, with my generally obsession with them, it was the sastrugi that created the most problems. I keep trying to think how to describe them better and the photo I posted didn’t do then justice. Imagine you are on a road, and you have your stepped curbs on the sidewalk… only the steps go out into the road, but often there are multiple steps. Some steps are 10cm, some are 50cm, some reach up a metre, or taller. Some steps have drops going deeper than surface level. Then there are more steps upon steps, going up and going down, forming grooves between them that you can get caught in.  But there are no regular features to each of these formations as they go out into and across the road at random. The only constant feature is how they go at an angle, reflecting the prevailing wind. But that’s it.

Now try it blindfolded!

Now imagine that you are effectively blindfolded and you have to work your way through them all.  Oh and you’re dragging a sled that occasionally gets caught in those grooves and tips over or just doesn’t want to follow you because it’ll mean it’ll have to plough through a larger step that you hadn’t seen.

Tough day but 26.5km

I managed 26.5km, so still good (though it’s just a little come down after the epic day yesterday!!). As I said yesterday, I was a bit worried about the conditions today and knew it would be hard to reach the travel distance. However, it is above my minimum target so to do this on a day like today isn’t bad at all. It was just hard work, and involved at least six falls down those steps! Tough on the shoulders though nothing worse and no equipment damaged.

Advent calendar chocolate of the day… Danzka vodka

Song in the head of the day: Chicken Run theme tune!

Thanks for all your positive comments and jokes – please keep them coming!

Please support Ben’s chosen charity Cancer Research UK https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/ben-weber1

Photo: a bit colder in the tent today!

I might have complained once or twice about … you guessed it… the sastrugi.  I might have mentioned it on occasion and of course, it is not at all an obsession. Really, I swear to you, I am not obsessed!

Sastrugi Hell on Earth

But today… oh jeez! Oh wow! I really have never seen anything like it! I have had days of just whiteouts before; days taken by storms… but to have just pure sastrugi, from start to finish, and the biggest sastrugi I have ever seen… was impressing, if not exhausting! It reminded me of rough sea ice in the Canadian Arctic!

I could rant, really I could! When I had my scheduled comms call with ALE earlier, my immediate reply to their questions about conditions was “hell on earth!” Okay, it could have been worse; there could have been a whiteout, so again I was lucky with the visibility… but this was insane; a complete labyrinth of grooves and channels between the ice formations. Snow so compact it was becoming as slippy as ice. Sir Sledmund wanting to go down channels one way when I wanted to go another, becoming a battle of strength and obstinacy to see which direction we’d end up going. And again. And again.

Finding a place to camp

I camped half an hour earlier than intended: I was getting pretty tired (not helped by a night during which I kept waking up with neck and shoulder spasms), I had fallen over a couple of times as the sastrugi had gotten worse, and it was getting cloudy. It was very hard to find a place to camp in this mess and the cloud would have made it so much harder (well it would have made it so that it was luck of the draw!) so when I stumbled on a spot, I gratefully accepted.

But despite my complaining… I still managed 23.5km… not my best day, but up there with the best of them. I have no idea how!! At the beginning of the day iI would have taken 20, so getting that far was again pleasing.

Setting up camp

Not quite so simple as just putting the tent up! I always anchor the tent immediately to the sled before doing anything else – a habit as if it’s windy, that’s security. Then it’s a matter of getting the poles in. The poles have been modified so they are now just two sections (taped the poles in each section together), with one always remaining in the fabric of the tent. So this is the easy part- always working from the wind-facing side first and downwards otherwise you risk losing control of the tent to the wind. Though on that note, the wind can be a helpful assistant sometimes even when it comes to getting it all upright once the poles are in!

14 guys and snow anchors

Once up, then the guy lines and snow pegs need seeing to… I have doubled up on these so there are 14 guys, for added strength in storms. Then it’s shovelling the snow on the snow flaps; all around the tent – extra stability and helps reduce draft! But still more to do: I have an extended vestibule which I use for cooking. Between the inner tent and the end of the vestibule, I always dig a deep pit: it lets me sit in the inner tent, dangling my legs down with the stove on the other side… much more comfy! Also carbon monoxide sinks into the hole so further reduces chances of poisoning (of course you need to make sure all the vent channels are open though).

Setting up ‘home’

Not done yet! Then you need to get the bags you need from the sled. The kitchen box with the stove, kettle and other items; a tent gear bag so can change out of those skiing clothes. The electronics bag – you need to warm up the satellite phone batteries before making any calls. The right food bags. The sleeping bag and bedding system. Med kit. And any other bags of items that you might need. Oh and today, I needed to bring in the fuel can as I need to fill up the fuel bottles. Once everything is out of the sled, then you can put things you don’t need (skis and poles for example) into that – you don’t leave them exposed as if it is windy or snows a lot, they soon get covered! Get everything into the tent and it’s open for business and you can relax a little…just a little though as there’s plenty more to do!

Please support Ben’s chosen charity Cancer Research UK https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/ben-weber1