All I Want for Christmas is to Get Halfway

Camping on Christmas Day in a Near White Out

Finally a good day! I had been sucking wind, literally and figuratively, the last several days. Not sure how much was altitude, the cold weather, or the snow conditions, but it was pretty hard going (heavy sledding?) and not a lot of fun on the trail. Today was different - I started the day in a very negative mood, worried about my blister and how hard it had been so far. Despite that, all eight marches went really well.

Zack usually set a pace that was only moderately hard, just enough to keep me really warm. The weather was overcast and a bit windy, but it was tailwind, out of the North for a change. Conditions deteriorated from there - not quite a white out, but very flat light, with no possible depth perception, and snow(!). It only snows a few inches a year at the Pole. To navigate, Zack had to rely on a compass mounted in front of his chest - looking down at it the whole time to maintain a constant bearing of 123 magnetic. (The geomagnetic Pole is on the other side of Antarctica, nowhere near the geographic Pole.). Not easy, but the only safe way to proceed.

I had put a super tough and adhesive wound dressing (actually two) on my blister, then wore super slippery vapor barrier liners (basically Teflon lined nylon bags) over my inner socks. The combination of protection and low friction did the trick. My feet felt pretty good all day.

In the end we made 8.9 nautical miles in eight marches. We are now only 24 from the Pole! Crossing the halfway point this morning was a major psychological milestone. A nice Christmas present for everyone. We saw the other sub-team through the snow, and talked with them via sat phone, but in the end failed to link up. They are a bit East of us and at least a mile behind. I sure that we will see them soon, but not for Christmas. We exchanged presents (David and I brought chocolate oranges for everyone to share), ate with Christmas napkins, and listened to holiday music on the portable speaker I had dragged along. Zack even wore a Santa hat. Supper was excellent chili, followed by brownie cake, covered with hot vanilla pudding. Yum! And a good end to the best day so far...