Closing In

It was a beautiful day, with mostly favorable conditions. The sun was out, and the wind behind us, usually. We did have one hour when the clouds rolled in, the sun vanished, and it got up to H4 conditions. It was COLD. I zipped up all of my zips, cinched my hood, and pulled up my Pogies (the neoprene hand covers duct taped to our ski poles) to my elbows. Fortunately, by the time we stopped at the end of the hour, conditions had moderated again. Our stops have also gotten much more efficient - everyone has their system for eating, drinking, and adjusting things down so that we only need 5-10 minutes per stop, instead of 15. This not only means that we can cover ground faster, but we also spend a lot less time sitting around getting cold while someone fiddles with something.

Because it looked, in the morning, like visibility would be poor, we decided to backtrack on Ari's trail from the pole. That way, no one would have to stare at the compass all day to navigate without the sun. Plus, we figured that he would have laid a very efficient track from the Pole. Neither turned out to be strictly true, but we did make another nine nautical miles, and are now less than 7 away from the Pole.

Usually, you can start to see the Station from about 15 miles out,but there was enough fog on the horizon that we never did catch a view. No matter - tomorrow for sure!

David has continued to have problems with his goggles icing up, while my bugaboo has again been beard ice, especially when Zack picks up the pace and I start to breathe more heavily. David also reports that he is convinced that someone has attached sandpaper to the bottom of his sled, which he also asserts will hereafter be referred to as a "man-hauling sledge". There may be a bit of justice to that: Ari says that the toughest snow hauling conditions of their whole trip so far was on the last degree (as well as the six foot tall sastrugi between 88 and 89 Degrees).

When we made camp, Zack held back and took photos (he is also a professional photographer) whole we set up the tents. That too went much more smoothly than even a few days ago. We really do have our systems and routines down. After the tents were up, he did a photo shoot of everyone, icy gear and all.

The day would have been pretty much ideal (at least by Antarctic ski travel standards), except for one disconcerting development: Chuck had been having trouble keeping his hands warm for the last several days, especially at stops. We finally worked out a system with gloves, under mittens, under Pogies, all stuffed with chemical hand warmers. Unfortunately, that may not have been quite in time. Sometime in the last two days he acquired frostbite on his right index finger - the entire tip has now raised a very large blister. It will probably heal okay, but is definitely a forceful reminder that this journey is not an easy pleasure jaunt...