Live life. Test your limits.
Well, OMG… Here we are again, stuck, as the Ilyushin isn’t flying. Apparently they switched an engine out and still there were problems.
Given how long we’ve been away, I had Dale count his pills. I then spoke to the ALE team to let them know how many days of anti-rejection drugs we have left and what was the Plan B if Ilyushin wasn’t going to fly…. in time… Continue reading “Day 17: Union Glacier – Bad luck reasserts itself”
We got into the DC3 and made our way from South Pole Station back to Union Glacier. The last 15 minutes of the flight were very exciting and made me glad for seat belts.
Union Glacier is having an unexpected wind storm with winds at 40 knots per hour and gusting higher. The clouds are stunning because of the high winds. These are called lenticular clouds. Continue reading “Day 16: Union Glacier Take 2”
The team poses with the marker
We were incredibly lucky to get a tour of the station. What an amazing place. There are approximately 150 people who spend the summer there and it drops down to 50 “winter overs” who stay for the long, cold, dark winter.
The South Pole station is part of the National Science Foundation. They have multiple projects ongoing that are largely geared to understanding global warming and what space – living, existing – would be like. We did a two-hour tour by Shannon who does HR. It was amazing.
Because of the potential challenges of a long winter, there are multiple rooms geared to stress relief including a gym, living room, a game room, a craft room, and a hydroponic room where they grow veggies for the winter. Continue reading “Day 15: South Pole Station”
We made it!
At 4:30 p.m. EST, the TYL team achieved the South Pole!
The Day
We woke up the best day yet; blue sky, not one cloud to be seen. We set off early. As we walked, we could see the South Pole start to emerge on the horizon. We had to go east and east and east while the station went by on our right.
It was like having a fine plate of Soma chocolate and not being allowed to reach out and take some. We desperately wanted to go in a straight line to get to the actual South Pole, but weren’t allowed. The reason is that we would have crossed into a Neutrino field…. Really (?!?!) Continue reading “Day 14: Courage and Challenge”
Location: south 89.52, west 78
Windy, windy night with snow squalls and chaotic weather outside the tent, such that a number of the sleds were actually buried in the snow when we got up this morning. However, as has become the case with the weather magnet Diego, we woke to a sunny but cold day. As we skied, it continued to be sunny through the day. I am feeling much and pulled my own weight today.
The first part of the skiing today was over terrain that was all higgledy-piggledy with drifts and little ups and little downs, which made the walk quite strenuous. Continue reading “Day 13: Almost There”
Location: south 89.43.717, west 83.17.894
We did 8.6 nautical miles today.
When we woke up it was actually really, really cold but the sun was out was a little bit and as the day wore on we saw all kinds of everything. We had increasing wind. We had snow. We had overcast skies across the horizon, and then as we came to camp the sun came back again.
As Michel and I were walking back the last little bit into camp, all of a sudden we felt the earth move and as Keith explained it to me, it was like a horizontal avalanche because different layers of snow underneath the top crust that had just collapsed. We could hear it and we could actually feel the motion. Apparently this is quite common and absolutely nothing to be worried about. Continue reading “Day 12: All Kinds of Weather”
Location: south 89.35.1, west 83.55.930
Well, we finally crossed the half way point! We woke up today and it was not as cold as yesterday, but there was much more wind and in fact, the sun had disappeared.
As a result, when you look around at the horizon, it gets a little nauseating because you can’t tell where the ground ends and the sky begins. Because of the wind, it felt much colder than it was, reaching the – 40 degrees Celsius region.
About mid-way through the day, we crossed the halfway point and had a big cheer celebration to know that we were now more than half way on the task of skiing to the South Pole.
Because of the weather, we did four long pushes that were about 2 to 2.1 miles with only three rests. Continue reading “Day 11: The Half Way Point”
We did 8.5 miles today. We are currently at south 89.26.818, west 82.311.165.
Certainly we had a much bigger flavour today than what we’ve been seeing over the last few days. It’s about -30 degrees Celsius today and with the wind chill, it’s in the –40 to -50 range. The wind was coming initially from the south and then from the southwest. Really changed the whole feeling of the day.
Because of the cold and because of the wind, we opted to do only did four pushes and three stops, meaning each push was longer and the stops were shorter.
This takes me to one of the single most important things that happens when you’re on a trip like this, and that is systems. Continue reading “Day 10: The Antarctic bears her teeth”
Again, another hot night but as the morning came, the temperature started to drop and it was about -30 degrees Celsius today and the winds were coming in from the south making for quite a cool day.
We managed to knock off just around 8 miles so we’re now at south 89.18.321 by west 81.58.404.
Very steady day on the trail. We’ve been dancing with another group that was here ands we’ve been passing each other’s paths off and on. Right now, they are a couple of miles to the west of us but we can see them in the distance.
I led for a time today and it was absolutely serene. I had Miles Davis on and it was the most incredible moment and then all of a sudden AC/DC “You Shook Me” came on and the moment was shattered.
One of the really interesting things is that when you stand around, it appears to be uphill in every direction. Continue reading “Day 9”