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June
1st 2002 - Day 81
90°
NORTH - ON TOP OF THE WORLD !
CLICK
HERE to
hear Caroline and Ann talking about their amazing
trip.
At
5:50 GMT (June 2nd), Ann and Caroline reached the
North Pole setting the following World records:
(1) Caroline and Ann are the first female British
explorers to have trekked to the geographic North
Pole as part of an 'all female' expedition.
(2)
As members of the 2000 M&G ISA Challenge Expedition
to the geographic South Pole, Caroline and Ann are
the first female explorers in history to have trekked
to both geographic Poles as part of 'all female' expeditions.
Caroline
and Ann have done this without the help of either
professional guides or men; they themselves are professional
explorers and have proved that women are the equal
of men in what was once considered to be a very male
dominated environment. The girls are intensely proud
of what they have achieved and just want to show all
females out there that two ordinary women really can
achieve the extra-ordinary.
Wow.
What an amazing feeling of elation, excitement and
relief.
We
found the Pole using our GPS and guess what, it was
in the middle of an open lead. Fortunately no need
for swimming, though we found our way onto
a small island of ice and suddenly we were on the
very top of the world. Pom was there in spirit. We
hugged each other, planted the Union Jack and sang
the National Anthem. Not a single note in tune, not
a single note coinciding.
It
was absolutely fantastic unbelievable to be
there at last. We put the tent up, took photos and
celebrated with a tiny bottle of whisky and mugs of
potato and beef stew. Then we were up and off again
to find a flat piece of ice for the Twin Otter to
land on. Fortunately, we found something half a mile
from the Pole and before long we were on our way home.
First stop was Eureka, a small weather station at
80º North where we looked in the mirror and had
our first shower for 81 days. Also, lavatory paper,
knives and forks and communicating with other people
all of which were alien. Then back to Resolute
last night for a wonderful welcome and more celebration
with DianeGuy (unfortunately Gary is out of town).
The Party at the Palace on television brought it home
what a momentus weekend this has been.
We
have received hundreds of messages from all over the
world and wed like to thank everyone who has
followed the expedition. Knowing you were all rooting
for us has meant so much throughout. Above all, words
cannot express how much we owe to M&G and our
other sponsors, Julian Mills and Zoe Hudson at base
camp, and Martin and Sarah Knight who have designed
and run the website. All have worked tirelessly day
and night to support us and, quite simply, without
them we could never have done what we have done.
Next
stop: the UK. We should be home on Friday, June 7
and were really looking forward to being back
with friends and family.

They made it - Caroline and Ann at the North Pole
- June 2nd 2002
©
North Pole 2002 Ltd
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At
the North Pole
©
North Pole 2002 Ltd


Elation,
excitement and relief
©
North Pole 2002 Ltd
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May
31th 2002 - Day 80
SO
CLOSE THEY CAN ALMOST SMELL IT
Position:
Latitude 89 51' .20"N Long 75 49W
Weather - Started a bit cloudy with a bit of snow
but then cleared at about midday.
Distance travelled today: 10 N Miles
Distance travelled since the start: 383 N Miles
Distance to go to the Pole: 9 N Miles
The
sun showed its face at midnight, and after a long
day they need to get some sleep. But with only 19
miles left to go, Caroline is too excited and can't
sleep, as she chats away, Ann who was feeling quite
sleepy, also gets excited. Then Caroline falls asleep,
leaving Ann awake thinking
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May
30th 2002 - Day 79
TORPEDO
STYLE
Position:
Latitude 89° 41' N Longitude 76° 28'W
Distance travelled today: 10 N Miles
Distance travelled since the start: 373 N Miles
Distance to go to the Pole: 19 N Miles
The
girls heard today that Tom and Tina had made it, and
are overjoyed for them. They have achieved an awesome
feat, and they have been constantly in their thoughts-well
done. Ann and Caroline are trying not to get too excited
as the Pole gets closer. But any excitement soon evaporated
when they were faced with a lead soon after breaking
camp. If the lead is just clear water and it is too
wide to jump across, Caroline prefers to swim, whilst
Ann paddles lying prostrate on her pulk. Having had
a lot of open water recently, the leads have suddenly
changed, it is like going back in time to how they
were about 3 or 4 weeks ago as they are semi frozen,
and full of ice. These are too difficult to swim through,
so rather than lowering the pulk and paddling, if
the height of the bank is favourable, Caroline lines
up her pulk on the ice, lies on top of it, then Ann
launches her like a torpedo across to the other side.
Ingenious ways of crossing a lead - Lesson 10. The
first half of the day was horrid and continued in
a similar vein, with a few swims here and a diversion
around a pressure ridge there. Patience is the essence;
they know they cannot force the end. They have to
stick to their routine and judgement and carry on
doing what they know how to do. Their patience paid
off half way through the day, as the weather brightened
up, they finished with open flat ice.
They
have been out on the ice for 2 and a half months,
and their existence is their routine. Whilst they
think of family and friends constantly, they are so
far removed from 'normal' life they can't imagine
the frenzy that awaits the England game and the excitement
of the Queens Jubilee. Normal life will not resume
until after The Pole has been reached, they cannot
afford to let their minds meander too far from their
goal.
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May
29th 2002 - Day 78
THINGS
ARE HOTTING UP
Position:
Latitude 89° 31' N Longitude 76° 45'W
Distance travelled today: 10 N Miles
Distance travelled since the start: 383 N Miles
Distance to go to the Pole: 29 N Miles
One
of the jobs in a morning whilst the snow blocks are
melting in the pan ready to make breakfast is to check
the weather. + 2 °C, rather unnerving when you
think what you are travelling on. The warm temperature
makes the ice slushy to travel across. They come across
leads that have ice in them and the edges of the leads
remain firm. The combination of the warm temperatures,
open water mean that cloud is the norm now, however,
the sun did manage to show his face towards the end
of the day. At the end of the day they have 29 miles
left to the Pole. It is so tantalisingly close, but
Caroline and Ann can't get too excited yet, they know
they have to keep concentrating and keep focussed
- there are no forgone conclusions up here
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May
28th 2002 - Day 77
THEY'D
NEVER BELIEVE IT
.
Position:
Latitude 89° 21' N Longitude 74° 10'W
Distance travelled today: 11 N Miles
Distance travelled since the start: 373 N Miles
Distance to go to the Pole: 39 N Miles
Ann
and Caroline thought they had seen all the different
weather and ice that the Arctic could produce, and
it has some repertoire. Luckily they did not experience
any drift overnight, but today was a complete whiteout.
Luckily they had glorious pans all day, with lots
of old rubble fields, and not a lead in sight. Then
in the middle of their day, it rained, not for long,
but it rained, in the Arctic - they have seen it all
now.
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| May
27th 2002 - Day 76
WHAT
A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES
Position:
Latitude 89° 10' N Longitude 73° 36'W
Distance travelled today: 11 N Miles
Distance travelled since the start: 362 N Miles
Distance to go to the Pole: 50 N Miles
After
the dejection of yesterday, the Arctic dealt a very
different hand today. The temperature has dropped
slightly and there is a northerly wind. Whether it
is down to this or the fact they hit a better area,
it is difficult to know. Whatever the reason, they
hit large pans of good thick ice, with a good hard
crust on the top, rather than the soft slushy stuff
they have had to endure recently. This makes the pulks
glide much better. When they did hit the thinner stuff,
there was evidence of leads having refrozen. This
was a fantastic sign to Caroline and Ann, and any
fears they had yesterday of disappearing into 'Waterworld'
completely evaporated.
Caroline
and Ann normally take it in turn to lead if the going
is relatively easy, but they also have specialist
subjects, Caro is great at finding paths through the
rubble, whilst Ann's speciality is thin ice. Once
back inside the warmth of the tent at the end of the
'day' they guess the mileage, switch on the GPS and
are relieved and elated with the 11 miles they clocked.
The highs and lows. They hit the sack and hope that
the new Northerly winds don't push them South whilst
they sleep.
Only 50 miles to go
.
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May
26th 2002 - Day 75
THE
ELLUSIVE PARALLEL
Position:
Latitude 88° 59' N Longitude 72° 52'W
Distance travelled today: 8 N Miles
Distance travelled since the start: 351 N Miles
Distance to go to the Pole: 61 N Miles
They
experienced some slight drift whilst they slept, but
thankfully they went West rather than South. They
woke with excitement with the hope that today they
would push through 89°. Caroline also woke with
the thought of mashed potatoes and cheese for breakfast,
another new alteration to their daily menu. Caroline
loves carbs, and especially potato, if that was all
she had to eat for the rest of her life, she would
be happy. In fact some friends think she might mutate
into one. At least it makes a change from scrambled
eggs or porridge.
As
quickly as they can melt the snow to cook breakfast
and get some hot drinks inside, they whistle down
the camp and set off with one mission in mind.
The weather conditions were similar to yesterday,
but the light was very flat. They hit some big pans
during the first half of the day and progress was
good, but as the day progressed it got worse and worse.
Try and imagine the snow when it settles in England
(not very often, we know), there is a brief moment
when it is all pristine, then it melts and turns into
a thick slush, that was what it was like. When it
wasn't like this, there was open water, bigger leads
they had to swim across, floating their pulks behind.
Even when the sun came out, it didn't lift their spirits.
It seemed as if all the ice was slowly melting and
sinking around them and there was no end to it. They
were determined to get through 89°, but after
15 hours they were exhausted and called it a day.
A measly 8 miles for 15 hours hard graft. During trips
like these the highs can be cancelled by the lows,
and today was one of them.
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Caroline
and Ann.
© North Pole 2002 Ltd

Typical ice lead.
©
North Pole 2002 Ltd
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May
25th 2002 - Day 74
MORE
SKI, LESS SWIM
Position:
Latitude 88° 51' N Longitude 72° 00'W
Distance travelled today: 9 N Miles
Distance travelled since the start: 343 N Miles
Distance to go to the Pole: 69 N Miles
Today
the wind has finally dropped, but unfortunately it
remains warm. Caroline and Ann still had to cross
lots of leads, but only 2 were so wide that they had
to don the bright orange suits and lower themselves
into the deep black water and swim across. Now the
wind has dropped, the water is more still and seems
less hostile. More of a pond than an Ocean. Another
treat today, at their first break, they found a new
addition to the usual supply of chocolate, assorted
nuts and Polar biscuit - "a Licorice Allsort"
Ann shrieked, but she swapped with Caroline who found
to her dismay she had a coconut one. Pom had put these
in as a daily treat.
They
happily find lots of big open pans and push hard wanting
to get through the all-magical 89th parallel. When
they are driving hard they get very hot, so now it
is warmer, jackets come off and they are left with
just one layer that acts as a base layer. This allows
the moisture to wick away more quickly from their
bodies and stops them and the jackets getting wet.
As for their sallopettes, these are designed with
zips down the outside of the leg so they can open
them as far as they want so they can 'vent'. The clothing
system has been made by Montane, Chris Roff and his
team have been absolutely fantastic in supporting
the M&G Polar Team with individual specifications
and requirements. A zip here, less padding there,
they couldn't have asked for more. They had an opportunity
for new clothing on resupply, but they knew what had
worked and didn't want to change - they send a huge
thanks.
Yet
another surprise for dinner tonight - Macaroni Cheese,
thanks Marcel and Peter.
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May
23rd and 24th 2002 - Day 72 and 73
WHICH
WAY THE WIND BLOWS
Position:
Latitude 88° 42' N Longitude 72° 21'W
Distance travelled in the last 2 days: 17 N Miles
Distance travelled since the start: 334 N Miles
Distance to go to the Pole: 78 N Miles
Thursday (Day 72)
They awoke to a strong easterly wind, -17 °C and
cloud. The problem with setting off in a strong wind,
is if the weather closes in further and you have to
stop, can you get the tent back up. Though the first
storm they encountered seems so long ago, the memories
are still firmly etched in their heads. However, they
have a new system, whereby the tent is laid out on
the ice, Ann sits on it to stop it blowing away, whilst
Caroline runs around securing it, before it is raised
into position. As the wind drops during the day, the
temperature climbs to -9 °C, and the snow gets
very sticky, this makes the pulks harder to pull and
slower going. After another gruelling 12 hours on
the ice, the wind starts to build again, but this
time from the North.
Friday
(Day 73)
A strong Northerly wind means they have drifted half
a mile further South from their position where they
set up camp-but it could be worse. The temperature
continues to stay warm so the snow remains sticky
during the day. The dry suits go on to swim across
smaller leads whilst they have to negotiate their
way round the larger ones. Exhausted at the end of
the day, they look forward to a surprise dinner. For
the first 70 days their rehydrated meal was either
chicken curry and rice, Hungarian beef and noodle
pot, beef and potato casserole or cod and potato.
Not much choice, but they are high in calories for
the weight. Tonight though, it is Nasi Goreng. What
an international menu so far North. As soon as they
have finished eating Caroline and Ann hit the sack.
Back
in Resolute
Gary and the gang had an uninterrupted night in the
tent, and after a slap up breakfast and copious amounts
of fresh coffee, set off to see the graves from the
Franklin expedition. It is such a desolate place to
think of being stranded here, the survivors dying
one by one. It is impossible to comprehend what the
early explorers had to endure, and the uncertainty
they must have felt when they set off from England
not knowing when they were going to return.
The
contrast was poor, so visibility was limited as the
team wound their way back carefully through the rough
rubble that surrounds Beechey. Gary was majestic pulling
the heavy Komatik through the difficult ice. Zoe was
breaking the trail following the winding tracks around,
and up and over hard blue ice. They hit some flat
pans and had to jump over an open lead. Kent thought
he was Evil Kenievel, his skidoo took off, he braked
as he landed and slid to a halt within a foot of everyone
else at the other side. Genius or lucky - who could
say. We were near Cornwallis Island and decided to
take a short cut through some particularly tricky
ice. Zoe put her skidoo face down into an ice ditch,
Pom had just come off hers and Gary had the komatik
stuck over a hummock. We had 2 out of 5 skidoos working,
and Tom sights a bear. What a time to be stranded
..Gary
unhooks the Komatik, Tom pulls outs the skidoos and
off we go to see the bear, from about 20 m away, absolutely
awesome. Photos and video galore, what a treat.
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The
dry suit - as used by Caroline on
Day 68
©
North Pole 2002 Ltd

Zoe
photographs a Polar Bear at Resolute Bay
© North Pole 2002 Ltd
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May
22nd 2002 - Day 71
THE
LAST RESUPPLY
Position:
Latitude 88° 25'N Longitude 65° 35'W
Distance travelled since the start: 317 N Miles
Distance to go to the Pole: 95 N Miles
Distance travelled Day 70 and 71: 10 N Miles
Temperature:
On
Tuesday, (Day 70) the weather stayed clear and sunny
all day.
The
girls had been able to have a lazy morning, having
said that they were up at 4 am to report the weather
to First air. But also, they needed the rest having
finished marching late last night and giving First
Air hourly updates they were tired and anxious about
any possible delay due to the weather over Eureka.
However, the plane landed successfully and on their
pan practically next door to the tent. Ross, the pilot,
ably assisted by Mike even managed to take a couple
of photographs of the girls. Food, fuel and some mail
and Bridgedale socks (a luxurious neccessity) delivered
together with a change of pulks (Sledges). The smaller
sledges had been getting a bit of a hammering so they
decided to change back to the original Acapulkas.
After the plane left they managed to get a couple
of miles under their belt.
Wednesday,
the weather stayed good and clear with minimal pressure
ridges and good skiing conditions. The number and
size of leads is increasing now but with a bit of
extra marching, usually to the west, they have been
able to cross the leads. A day of self-congratulations
is in order, they have crossed the line and there
is less than 100 miles to go, psychologically this
is a huge boost.
Back
in Resolute the home team, under the direction of
Gary Guy (as ever), piled onto their skidoos with
Gary pulling the komatik. The komatik is a large wooden
sledge with a box on the top. Inside the box the Inuit
hunter will put the carcass of the beast he is hunting,
skins, guns or whatever takes his fancy, Gary had
our camping gear inside. Everyone had the most fantastic
time racing across the sea ice and after about 4 hours,
and just before we arrived at Beachy we came across
bear tracks - large and fresh, they followed an amusing
pattern as the bear had gone from seal hole to seal
hole, it looked like some childs spiral drawing. We
put up camp at Beachy in sight of Northumberland House,
the supply depot built by the crew of North Star in
1854 who had been sent to find Franklin and his crew.
Apparently they set up camp on the same site that
the survivors of the Erebus and Terror that had becomed
trapped in the ice also were forced to stay. It was
a clear and beautiful night. The tent Gary put up
was utter luxury, more like a marquee than a tent,
there was heating, large foam mattresses and a delicious
stew. It was magic.
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19th and 20th 2002 - Days 68 and 69
WEATHER
FOIL & CAROLINE TAKES A SWIM
Latitude:
88° 15'N Longitude 66° 15'W
Distance travelled during the previous two days: 12
miles
Distance travelled since the start: 307 N Miles
Distance to go to the Pole: 105 N Miles
Temperature: -18°C
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©
North Pole 2002 Ltd
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Sunday
(Day 68) was the planned resupply day but as luck
would have it the weather changed, a thick layer of
low cloud covered the area the girls are in. There
is also bad weather at Eureka so resupply has been
postponed for twenty-four hours. The girls, who were
looking forward to a lie-in, have been out on the
trail again today.
Although feeling a bit tired their spirits were restored
after Ann successfully passed over a large lead, about
60 m wide, on very thin bouncing ice. After her skis
passed the water oozed through the ice. On reaching
the far bank she shouted at Caroline to put on her
orange dry suit, which is easier said than done. The
legs are long and huge boot covering and large mittens
mean putting on the skis is a feat in itself but amidst
much hilarity Caroline successfully put on her skis
and started to cross the lead, albeit in a different
part than Ann. After only a short way the ice gave
way and with a shriek Caroline plunged through the
ice. The suit was magnificent, up she popped before
her face was even splashed and due to the blobby ice
she turned for the nearest 'bank' and scrambled back
onto the safe ice. Now Ann was North of the bank and
Caroline South. Ann, being Ann, volunteered to come
back!! Eventually Caroline plucked up courage and
got back into the water. Caroline would launch herself
onto the thin ice, but still it was not possible to
ski across or swim across easily. So the 'ice breaker'
Caroline would break the ice with her belly flops,
then make progress in the water, then belly flop.
The suit kept Caroline warm and buoyant, so buoyant
that instead of words of encouragement from Ann all
she could hear were hysterical hoots of delighted
laughter until eventually Ann threw her a throw line
to help haul her to the other side of the lead.
They then carried on for the rest of the day feeling
very reassured with the dry suits performance and
hoping that they would get their resupply the next
day.
Monday
(Day 69), they have a full food and fuel ration for
today but this could stretch to include tomorrow if
need be. There is low visibility and low cloud and
the resupply has been called off, so the girls got
stuck into another day of crossing large clean pans,
and crossing numerous leads. Their day finished in
the middle of the evening and they called First Air
to give the co-ordinates of the new pan for the pilots
to land the twin otter on.
Back
in Resolute Zoë and Pom have had to pack and
repack all the resupply into small boxes. Due to weather
conditions and the fear that the weather will close
in again it has been decided that only the pilots
will go up on the Resupply, letters hurriedly written
and a loaf of bread baked by Tom were included. Fingers
are crossed that the small weather window will remain
open long enough for the seven hour flight to the
girls tomorrow. The First Air pilots Carl and Kevin
are leaving Resolute having finished their shift,
being replaced by Ross and Mike (hope I have spelled
them right) who will do the resupply.
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17th and 18th 2002 - Days 66 and 67
KEEP
ON KEEPING ON
Position:
Latitude 88° 04'N Longitude 65° 40'W
Distance travelled Friday Day 66: 9 miles
Distance travelled Saturday Day 67: 10 miles
Distance travelled since the start: 295N Miles
Distance to the Pole: 117 N Miles
Friday
(Day 66) was the first day they wore their Dry Suits,
the girls rang Pom to tell her and discuss the in's
and out's of the sledges they have on the ice at the
moment. It was a white out all day. The concentration
required in crossing the pans and deciding where to
cross a lead is immense so they were extremely happy
with the 9 miles they achieved. The dry suits are
bright orange and cover their boots, hands and heads,
and just the face is visible. The suits were made
especially for the team and can be used not only as
added security device if crossing a lead with thin
ice but also to swim across a lead if required. The
suits were designed by Borge Ousland, the legendary
Norwegian Polar explorer. There is a continuing easterly
drift but the NE wind has moved the ice pans where
the girls are slightly South West overnight whilst
they slept.
Saturday (Day 67) was a beautiful sunny day there
were plenty of large open pans interspersed with numerous
leads. It was the sort of day that reminds one why
the Northern Arctic and the frozen sea are so beautiful
and why people come back year after year. Nothing
seems so threatening when there is sunshine. Tomorrow
is the last resupply day, so they hunt for a suitable
airstrip and look forward to a lie in. They are travelling
a minimum of 11 hours on the ice each day. They have
3 days supply of food and 4 days of fuel on board.
RESOLUTE:
Friday,
another day of polar plodding for Pom, which was helped
enormously by Zoë lending her a walkman. She
listened to Faithless for 11 hours; Zoë threatened
that she would test her on the lyrics. Zoë had
made some protective 'corn' type plasters from blue
camping mat for Pom's toes, these helped the pain
a lot but unfortunately did not stop the battering
to the toes. In addition to this both boots were immersed
in a tub of water to simulate the potential conditions
on the ice-Zoe felt really bad making Pom do that.
On returning to the Shack Zoë checked Pom's toes,
unfortunately they had deteriorated very quickly and
there is no way that she will be able to return to
the ice for the completion of the expedition. Mentally
this was a hard couple of days for Pom and she was
extremely pleased that Zoë was with her. They
had a huge plate of spag bol.and went to bed.
Saturday, they went to the airport to meet the new
arrivals which included Tom, Ann's boyfriend who is
here until the girls get off the ice, Kent, Pom's
husband, here for a long weekend and the return of
Gary. Gary handed over the 2 kilos of chocolate bars
and 6 lbs of butter which Ann and Caroline will eating
after the next resupply, in addition to the rest of
the rations. The rest of the day was spent preparing
the sledges, rations and kit for the girls, a never
ending task of 'mud pies' adding nuts and chocolate
but taking away fat or visa versa.
On
Saturday Pom received an extremely well thought out
gift from M & G, the teams sponsor, a bottle of
vodka and tonic. The timing was excellent considering
the result of yesterdays skiing test. Thank you from
both her and Zoë.
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May
16th 2002 - Day 65
OPEN
WATER AND AN ARCTIC DIP
Latitude:
87° 44' N Longitude 66° 52' W
Distance travelled so far: 267 N miles
Distance to the Pole: 136 N miles
Distance travelled today: 10 N miles
Water,
water everywhere
..Today saw masses
of open leads, they came across 25 in the first hour.
In the second hour, Ann was leading across some 'porridge'
like ice that was not dissimilar to countless previous
times, when she suddenly went through and took a dip
in the Arctic Ocean. Quickly, Caroline hauled her
out by her harness. They decided to carry on, and
would only stop if Ann got too cold. It was a beautiful
day which started out as -15°C and got progressively
warmer. In between the leads the surface conditions
were good and they made another 10 miles towards their
goal.
Back
in Resolute, Pom's toes have improved tremendously
and she is back out on the ice and hills, pulling
a laden pulk to see how her toes respond. She was
out for 11 hours and said it was one of the most boring
days of her life trying to pretend she was on the
ice.
Everyone is hopeful she will be able to join Ann and
Caroline at the next resupply and complete the expedition
with them. But, not only will she have to make sure
that her toes are up to the rigors of an expedition
day but also and perhaps most importantly be secure
that if she does join the other two that she doesn't
hold them up in any way. Tomorrow she will have to
do another day of similar length and deliberately
wet her feet to see how the toes respond.
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May
15th 2002 - Day 64
A
DOZEN 'CLICKS'
Latitude:
87° 34' N Longitude 68° 11' W
Distance travelled so far: 257 N miles
Distance to the Pole: 146 N miles
Distance travelled today: 12 N miles
Another
belter day, great travelling weather and the girls
feeling great having got some good mileage under their
belt. Caroline continues with her broken sledge, hoping
that every obstacle they have to clamber over doesn't
exacerbate the damage. The cloud is high today, and
the sun rarely pops his head out.
Tom and Tina had a very tough day yesterday with Tom
falling and hurting himself badly and Tina falling
in the water - our hearts are with these guys.
Meanwhile,
back at Resolute
..
Marcel and Peter have left, and Pom and Zoe are alone
in the Shack. Poms toes are so much better and planning
and preparation has started for the next resupply.
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| May
13th and 14th 2002 - DAY
62 & 63
IT'S
A RUBBLING TIME
Day
62 Latitude 87° 22n Longitude 67° 68W
Distance travelled today 11 N miles
Today was charmed by huge flat pans of solid ice,
the girls speed across the ice accomplishing a neat
11 miles.
Day
63 - Latitude: 87° 22 N miles Longitude 68°
02W
Distance travelled so far: 245 N miles
Distance to the Pole: 158 N miles
Distance travelled today: 7 N miles
Temperature
dropping to -20C° causing leads to refreeze which
is good news, the fear at this time of year is widening
leads causing delays so the hope is that the change
in temperature will give the girls an easier and safer
path. There
is a westerly wind causing an increase in the east
drift to 0.3 knots, they need to increase the amount
of westerly direction to compensate for this. From
flat pans of yesterday to huge rubble fields today
you can never be complacent in the Arctic, the minute
you feel relaxed a new surprise will confront you.
Today there was a huge pressure ridge of 50ft high.
It took the girls a couple of hours to climb, haul,
scream and yell their way over the huge lumps of aquamarine
ice pulling their laden sledges behind them. The energy
required to climb over these massive pressure ridges
is immense, it is only with hugh patience that one
can guide, lift, pull, push ones laden sledge to follow
the 'easiest' route with the rope and sledge getting
continuing caught and snagged on the ice again and
again.
|
May
11th and 12th 2002 - Day 60 and 61
CRAZY JUMPING COMPASSES
Latitude: 87 04'N miles Longitude 69 45W
Distance travelled since the start - 236 n Miles
Distance to go to the Pole - 176 N Miles
Day 60 Saturday Distance travelled - 7 N miles
Day 61 Sunday Distance travelled - 11 N miles
It's getting warmer but the weather remains changeable
with cloudy conditions and snowfalls. The girls are
anow stopping after 1hr 15mins for the first 5 hours
to eat and drink and then every 1hr 5mins putting in
ten hour days most days. They had good open pans over
the weekend with some pressure ridges but on Sunday
afternoon the pans had broken up into a number of leads
They were able to jump over most of them. Both their
compasses went abit beserk on Saturday leading them
in a westerly direction rather than North, which was
rather irritating. They are now using the GPS to eheck
their compass bearing. Both in great form and good heart.
News from Resolute:
Zoe is administering to Peter de Bruijn from the Dutch
Magnetic Expedition he is suffering from horrid chilblains
on his inner thighs.
A cooling rub of Aloe Vera seems to be doing wonders
for both of them. - Both thighs or both him and Zoe
? : Webmaster
In the afternoon they went to the airport to wave the
doctors and one engineer from Ice Explorers.com back
to England and check who was arriving. They really enjoyed
sharing a house with James and his chums. On Sunday
evening the pilots from First Air were invited to the
shack for supper a highly entertaining night followed
with wonderful stories being told by the legendary pilots,
Carl and Doug. |
|
|
May
10th 2002 - Day 59
Latitude:
86 46' 2 N Longitude 68 06'W
Miles travelled - 10 N miles
Distance travelled since the start - 218 N Miles
Distance to the Pole - 194 miles
The
day started with SW wind and sunshine but ended with
cloudy conditions. There has been quite a bit more
snow filling the holes between the blocks of ice at
the pressure ridges and making the rubble quick and
easier to cross. No open leads and some good sized
pans gave Ann and Caroline a really nice steady day.
They are both feeling strong and confident.
Zoe
and Pom met up with the Pilots at 2.00pm and left
Eureka shortly afterwards on the return flight to
Resolute they were given a fantastic surprise, Carl
took them on 'safari' flying low and with the help
of his extraordinary eyesight they say Musk Ox and
their young, gathering round them in a circle to protect
the babies from the onslaught of the monster enemy
the twin otter, they bravely stood their ground until
the plane had passed them by and then they scattered
nervously across the ground. Then as they neared towards
Resolute, the plane appeared (to Pom and Zoe) to be
flying really very low, but they were rewarded by
Polar Bears, the big female standing up on her haunches
as she saw the plane as if to say 'Ok, I won't fight
if you won't'. It was a fantastic trip for them both.
That night they had another wonderful dinner with
Gary and Diane Guy, joined by the English guys from
Ice Explorers.com they chatted and ate until 1.00am
when they watched the arrival of the twin otter, flown
by Doug, returning with the Peter Bruijn and Marcel
Knotter from the Dutch Magnetic Expedition who had
successfully walked to the Magnetic Pole another
late night. The
Shack was a wonderful caos with three expeditions
and their kit all swopping stories and information.
May
9th 2002 - Day 58
2nd
Resupply
Latitude
86 46'N Longitude 68' 06N
Miles travelled - 6 N miles
Beautiful
weather greeted the girls when they woke but, when
they looked at the airstrip they had chosen the night
before in the white out they were worried about it's
length, it was shorter than they had thought. However,
having spoken to First Air base in Resolute they were
assured if it was not suitable the pilot would find
another strip, they relaxed and waited for the resupply.
The twin otter captained by the legendary pilot, Carl
and his co-pilot, Nick landed at an adjacent pan at
approx. 3.30pm and rather than make the girls walk
too far, Carl 'drove' the plane over to the shared
pressure ridge. Zoe and her assistant Pom climbed
down from the plane and immediately started exchanging
news and views as to whether they should take the
security wet suits or not, they did after a few interjections
from Carl. The resupply was finished quickly giving
Zoe ample time to give both Ann and Caroline a quick
check up. They are both in good shape, having nearly
lost all the extra podge they had put on for the expedition.
They were thrilled to see Pom up and about and admired
the new Montane jacket she was wearing. After a few
more hugs and laughter the girls returned to their
tent to pack it away and did a good six miles which
they were pleased with as the day ended in another
whiteout.
That night they had one of Diane Guy's delicious home
made stews and bread, they slept very soundly.
Zoe
and Poms day had started at 8.30am in Resolute, climbing
aboard the twin otter they flew to Ward Hunt Island
to refuel and then onto meet the girls for their resupply.
Once the resupply had been completed the pilots had
to find the First Air fuel cache
floating on a large pan of ice, the battery had run
out and needed to be replaced urgently, otherwise
the pilots might loose their fuel which had been previously
set up for the rest of the season. Carl was pretty
confident he could find it quickly as he had used
it only two days previously when he had collect Paul
Landry and Swee (the Singaporean) and Pauls beautiful
Husky from the North Pole. The mission was accomplished
but it took slightly longer than had been anticipated.
They then had to fly back to Ward Hunt Island and
collect various equipment and a sledge which Dave
Mills had left behind in one of the huts. By now it
was 8.30pm and the pilots had been flying for 12 hours
so they headed for Eureka to spend the night.
The plane touched down at 11.00pm, by 11.30pm they
were all at the military base and Boyce the chief
of the base had got out of bed to see his old friend
Carl and to meet up with Zoe and Pom again. In 1997
Zoe, Pom, Caroline and Lucy (the Echo team) of the
Penguin Polar Relay had all been very thankful recipients
of Boyce and the military's fantastic hospitality
when they had been stuck with no money at Eureka whilst
waiting for the weather to clear so that they could
get on the ice and complete the Relay.
It was a great reunion.
|

Caroline
and Ann
© North Pole 2002 Ltd

Polar Bear !
© North Pole 2002 Ltd

First
views of Caroline and Ann on the Ice
© North Pole 2002 Ltd

The
resupply team
(Zoe is taking the photo)
© North Pole 2002 Ltd

Caroline,
Pom and Ann reunited
© North Pole 2002 Ltd
|
|
May
8th 2002 - Day 57
Latitude:
86° 30'N Longitude: 69° 14'W
Temperature: -16°C
Distance travelled previous day: 8 N miles
Distance to go to the Pole 210 N miles
There
is the continuing easterly drift at the time of our
Base Managers call our Longitude was 69° 14'W
but at the end of the previous day's travel the Longitude
had been 70° 54'W.
Travel yesterday had been difficult due to the whiteout
conditions, a number of large pressure ridges towards
the end of the day interspersed with open leads and
soggy ice.
They came across an old wooden ski amongst the ice
and kept a bit as a souvenir.
Camped on a good flat pan hoping that the weather
would clear overnight for the resupply. However, they
have enough fuel for 2 more days if the weather doesn't
clear.
Due to the warmer weather they will send the tent
floor back on the resupply plane and exchange their
sleeping bags for clean ones minus.
Pom & Zoe had rather a big night cocktails with
Gary & Diane and returned to a chicken stew and
fantastic mashed potatoes with James, Jules, Matt
and John Jo who were all extremely over excited after
their skidooing trip round crystal city.
|
| May
7th 2002 - Day 56
Latitude:
86° 22'N Longitude: 69° 58W
Distance travelled previous day: 10 N miles
Distance travelled since the start: 194 N miles
Distance to go the Pole 218 N miles
The weather still not good enough for the plane to
land, so the resupply was postponed at midday for
24hrs. Ann & Caroline broke camp to get a few
more miles under their belt But they also need to
find a new landing strip.
Ann and Caroline are determined to have light sledges
as possible and, due to the increasing warmer temperatures,
have been able to shed some of their clothing and
outer and inner fleece linings to their sleeping bags,
these will be returned to Base at the resupply.
|
|
May
6th 2002 - Days 54 and 55
Latitude:
86 12'N 70 06'W
Temp: -26C
Distance travelled May 5: 7.2 N miles
Distance travelled May 6: 10.8 N miles
Distance to the Pole: 228 N miles
Sunday
Day 54 - was cloudy and a whiteout all day it also
snowed causing slow progress, coupled with lots of
rubble the girls were glad when the day was over.
Monday
Day 55 - conditions improved with better visibility
and they came across a good newly frozen lead heading
North that they skied up. They have one more day of
skiing until the next resupply so fingers crossed
for good weather and a less problematic resupply than
the last one.
Back
in Resolute Pom and Zoe finalised the resupply requirements
for the team and were looking forward to the finals
of the Dog Show on TV, gutted it appeared not to be
screened so they made do with WWF wrestling instead.
|

Rubble
from a distance on the ground, a wall
that you don't want to go near but have no option

From the air at about 9500 ft showing open water as
big as the thames, the other shows
© North Pole 2002 Ltd
|
|
May
4th 2002 - Days 52 and 53
Position:
84° 54'N 70° 54'W
No drift over night
Temp: -24°C
Distance travelled during the last 2 days: 19 N miles
Distance to Pole: 246 miles
Friday
(Day 52) saw perfect conditions and the team but in
their best distance to date, 11 Nautical miles. There
were large flat pans with only the occasional spot
of rubble. But weather in the Arctic changes quickly
and by Saturday (Day 53) it was a whiteout. Everything
becomes much slower in these conditions with navigation
becoming more difficult. After a long day they came
to a huge high pressure ridge and then another and
then another interspersed with open leads, an end
to a tough day so they were pleased with the 8 N miles
they had achieved. They are now putting in 10 and
a half hours after breaking camp, and will be looking
forward to the few hours of extra rest they will get
on resupply day.
In
Resolute Zoe & Pom watched the Canadian versions
of Crufts on the TV wondering if the judges were only
watching the dogs or including the owners who all
seemed to achieve a commendable extended trot.
|
|
May
2nd 2002 - Day 51
Position:
84° 35'N 70° 53'W
No drift over night
Temp: -22°C
Distance travelled today: 9 miles
Distance to Pole: 265 miles
The
team woke to a bright sunny day with hardly any wind.
Perfect travelling weather and a balmy -22C°.
Ann has got her skiing legs back and they were able
to keep their skis on all day as one large flat pan
flowed into another. They have become adept at finding
the low part of the wall in the pressure ridges so
they can ski over and round the huge jagged blocks
of ice.
Sometimes the ice is piled up neatly other times the
ice is wretched in its tortured shapes piled high
in a long curving line. Then suddenly there will be
one vast piece of ice like a sculpture standing 20
ft high. The colours change too, usually aquamarine
the ice can be grey, occasionally dark green and even
a good match for a blue smartie, sometimes it's black
with oil, a dreadful slight on the pristine cover
of the sea. But the ice, this year is all covered
by a thick icing of snow and the slice of cake sometimes
has a 'cherry' on the top.
Navigation is by the sun and to plot their next course
they look across to the horizon and pick out a particular
shape 'Ok lets head for the slice of cake, west by
that big knobbly bit and we'll stop for chocolate
by the elephant'. The light and scenery constantly
change; sometimes you can see the sun and the shadow
of the moon as the clouds dance across the sky. Twice
a jet has passed overhead an unnatural sound crashing
into the environment. The silence is total until the
ice moves and a pressure ridge is forming, it sounds
as if the London underground is about to plough through
Mornington Crescent.
|
|
May
1st 2002 - Day 50
Position.
: Latitude 85 26'N 71 20'W
Distance traveled 10 N miles
Distance to go to the Pole 274 miles
Ann
and Caroline are going great guns
A
windy day with poor visibility. At the end of every
1hr 5 min session the girls came across an obstacle
so instead of stopping at the end of the session eating
and drinking and then attacking the obstacle they
carried on climbing over the pressure ridge or skirting
round a lead, it meant that each session was sometimes
stretched to 1hr 45mins and they did the scheduled
9 sessions. At the end of the day they were totally
exhausted but they had achieved 10 N miles - HOORAH
they are going great guns.
Whenever they skirted round an obstacle on the ice
they always went west as the drift is continually
taking them east due to the Lomonosov ridge on the
ocean floor, if they get caught in these eastern currents
they will be unable to ski faster than the current
and will miss the Pole so they must continually compensate
by going West.
When they stopped the wind had risen and the tell
tale dark wispy clouds indicating a possible storm
were clearly visible. They just managed to get the
tent up and collapsed into their lovely dry sleeping
bags.
Caroline's eye which had been giving her trouble has
now completely cleared up and both she and Ann, although
tired, are in fighting form.
Back in Resolute Pom continues to visit the Clinic
for her IV drip but the most important engagement
that she and Zoë had today was to join the memorial
service for Kono held at the edge of the sea ice at
Resolute. Kono was the legendary Japanese explorer
who tragically drowned last year 8 miles from Ward
Hunt Island. His last one man expedition was from
the North Pole to Ward Hunt Island but he contracted
frostbite. After a one month respite at Eureka he
went back on the ice, it was late in the season but
he wanted to catch his dream, but tragically he died
in the Arctic ocean.
Kono's
wife and members of his family had flown for the anniversary
of his death and had brought stones from his home
town to be laid on the make shift altar they had erected
in front of the memorial. The congregation laid chrysanthemums
one by one on the altar. The service was held in Japanese
and English. Stones would be taken back from Resolute
to Kono's home. A song was played and Kono's family
sang, it was extremely beautiful and very emotional.
Whatever your reason for being up here, it was impossible
not to be moved by the very kind words.
Pom
in the mean time is being incredibly brave, he toes
will heal up now they are no longer being hammered
on the ice. She still has wet gangrene, but her toes
are improving rather than deteriorating as they were
on the ice.
|

Memorial
for Japanese explorer Kono held at Resolute Bay.
© North Pole 2002 Ltd
|
|
April
30 2002 - Day 49
Position.
:Latitude 85 16'N 71 20'W
Distance traveled on April 29th 6N miles
Distance traveled on April 30th 10N miles
Distance to go to the Pole 284 miles
Good
clear conditions and sunshine, the ice conditions
were good too and the team set off with purpose. They
did 9 x 1hr 5 min sessions and achieved 10N miles
- they are ecstatic, they now feel totally confident
that they can keep to their schedule.
They read and re-read their letters from home, discussing
every little nuance and telling and re-telling any
scrap of news they received. They ate Hungarian Goulash
for supper and discussed if they could get a two man
tent at next resupply, its much warmer snuggling close
to somebody rather than a saucepan when its -34°C.
News from Resolute
Pom and Zoe are back at The Shack in Resolute and
make twice daily trips to the clinic where Pom is
having intravenous antibiotics and her feet are dressed.
X-rays were taken of her feet today to make sure the
infection has not gone down to the bone, and the films
were sent off to Iqaluit on the jet. The old pulks
were unpacked, the sleeping bags were frozen and like
boards, god only knows how you sleep in something
like that. Discarded socks and facemasks were frozen
onto the pulk and had to literally be prised off.
Pom tells stories of their time on the ice, and it
does sound utterly incredible what they have been
through (especially given that Pom is more prone to
the understatement).
April
29 2002 - Day 48 - The new two women team
Caro
and Ann after waving goodbye to Zoë and Pom ate
their first home cooked meal of pork stew made for
them by Diane Guy in Resolute Bay - delicious was
the verdict but difficult to eat pork fillets with
a plastic spoon. The night was spent rolling around
in a 3-man tent bumping into saucepans and cookers
rather than Pom who they were missing a lot. They
got to bed about 3.00am and had a late start; it was
a whiteout, which makes travel difficult.
Before resupply the team had decided to try their
previous tried and tested format of 1 hr 5 mins man
hauling and then breaking to drink and eat, it meant
that they should be able to achieve 1N mile per session
and they felt confident that by following this route
they would achieve their rule. But they were tired
and had new sledges, the previous night had been emotionally
draining for everyone, the 6 N miles was a disappointment.
|

Pom's frost bitten toes
© North Pole 2002 Ltd

Pom
back in Resolute Bay
having treatment for frost bite
© North Pole 2002 Ltd
|
|
Resupply,
and drama at 85 degrees
- Days 45, 46 and 47
April
28th 2002 - Day 47
Position.
: Latitude : 85° 0' N.
As
the team slept Zoë (back in Resolute) was reasonably
coherent when Julian gave her 5.00am wake up call.
The
team spoke to Greg at First Air at 7.00am reporting
blue skies with a haze on the horizon, good visibility.
Greg, had already checked the satellite pictures and
the resupply was on. The flight went via Eureka for
refueling and then up to a fuel cache on the ice.
While Zoë was in the air the team remained in
their sleeping bags, chatting and sleeping, the first
time they had been able to genuinely rest for a long
time. Mid morning they suddenly heard a mans voice
'Hello'
'Hello' instantly they realized it must
be Tom and Tina Sjogren a Swedish couple on a unsupported
expedition to the North Pole. Tom and Tina stayed
outside the tent and they swapped stories of open
leads, big rubble, moving ice and how they had coped
with the terrible temperatures. The girls had been
first on the ice this year and Tom and Tina told them
how impressed they had been at their seemingly never
ending tenacity of staying on the ice, particularly
during the first week when it was -52°C and coping
during the first storm by lying under the tent canvas
as 80 mph winds meant they had no hope of getting
up tent up. The team had stayed under this canvas
for two days and is probably when Pom contracted frostbite.
The girls were incredibly bucked up by Tom and Tina's
words. On the other hand the team are hugely impressed
with Tom and Tina who have already skied to the South
Pole this year they all wished each other luck and
hope to meet up at the Pole, Ann climbed out of the
tent and gave them a big hug - how extraordinary to
bump into other people, what a great diversion.
At
5.25pm they heard the sound of the twin otter, the
girls with fluttering tummies from excitement rushed
to get out of the tent to watch the twin otter land.
As they exited the tent they noticed with change of
light, and greater cloud cover, definition on the
ground was bad. The plane tried twice to land and
then the pilot went to a couple of other pans to look
for a landing site, after a few minutes the plane
flew back over the tent in a northerly direction and
disappeared from site. Straining to hear any change
of engine noise the girls heard the engine revving
and believed it had landed. There was no direct communication
with the pilot as the radio link did not work in that
area so the team called Greg in Resolute to report
the situation. As he hadn't heard from the pilots
the team, quickly packed up their tent and went in
the direction they thought the plane had gone. After
one hour they rang Greg again and he gave them the
coordinates of the twin otter. They had 3 N miles
to travel as quickly as possible, speed is always
of the essence in these situations as the pilots have
a limited number of hours they should be flying. The
terrain was quite tough with a number of small leads
and pressure ridges. Caro skied but Ann and Pom had
to walk as Ann's binding on one ski had broken and
Pom's toes were so painful from the extra pressure
of the ski binding that she preferred to walk even
though it is extremely tiring continually sinking
up to your knee or sometimes waist in the snow. Four
hours later they arrived at the twin otter, jubilant
to see Zoë again.
The pilot, Doug, an old friend and a fabulous pilot
had previously flown the girls on to the ice in both
the Arctic and to Hercules Inlet at the beginning
of their successful M & G Isa Expedition to the
South Pole. Doug had literally landed on a pocket
handkerchief but the light had been right and he could
see the lie of the land, the team was extremely grateful
to him and his co-pilot, Nick.
The
fevered rush of swapping old gear and getting new
equipment and supplies began, sledges were changed,
and frozen sleeping bags replaced with dry clean ones.
The
team then climbed into the twin otter for Zoë
to give their ailments a check.
Zoë was extremely impressed at how well the team
looked, fit and strong but when she looked at Pom's
big toes she was deeply concerned. Zoë said 'If
they were my toes I would leave the ice' Pom had been
worried for some time by the frostbite, the pain was
excruciating and gangrene had set in, the smell wasn't
too good either. She also knew the schedule the girls
need to keep to get to the Pole and she certainly
didn't want to jeopardize the success of the expedition.
It was a highly emotional time, there was no time
for discussion, the team totally trusting Zoë's
judgment accepted her prognosis, but the decision
as to what to do was Poms. Zoë knew exactly how
the team would be feeling she had been a member of
their previous expeditions. Pom decided to leave the
ice, desperately disappointed and crying the team
hugged, Caroline and Ann walked away from the plane
and Zoë and Pom waved through the plane window
as they flew to Eureka.
The
plane arrived at Eureka at about 3.30am and Zoë
and Pom stayed the night at the weather station. Pom
luxuriating in being warm for the first time in 7
weeks, bathed and washed her clothes. It had been
so cold the team had not taken off their clothes for
all that time - leaving the ice does have some compensation.
Footnote
(bad pun)
Pom's toes were irrigated with iodine and dressed
again at Eureka, Zoë was worried to think if
there was anything that could have been done to keep
Pom on the ice and whether it had been the right decision.
The pressure during resupply was quite intense and
decisions had to be instant. It was incredibly brave
of Pom to come off, as they are all so focused on
getting to the Pole it is easy to pass off anything
that will prevent you. With a second look in the cold
light of Eureka, Zoë had absolutely no qualms
that it was the right decision.
|

From
the cockpit on route to the girls
© North Pole 2002 Ltd



Touch
Down !
© North Pole 2002 Ltd

Repacking
© North Pole 2002 Ltd
The
Team after 47 days on the ice
© North Pole 2002 Ltd
|
April
27th 2002 - Day 46
Position: latitude: 84° 58'N 71° 40'W
Weather: Clear and sunny - 34°C
Distance traveled - 5N miles
Zoë
arrived late in Resolute Bay with bags of nuts and
chocolate, pain killers, athletes foot powder, sudacream
for the chilblains the girls have on their thighs,
toothbrushes and a myriad of other items for the resupply.
Due to bad weather in Nanisivik ( a stop en route)
the runway was closed, and there was a slight panic
that Resolute may also be shut due to bad weather.
However, the jet did land at Resolut and all was well,
resourceful as ever she roped a young doctor, James,
into helping her pack up the resupply boxes and still
managed 3 hours sleep.
The team was hopeful that they would be able to find
a suitable landing strip, not always easy with so
many pressure ridges about. But they also hoped to
be able to get a few miles under their belt as well.
As luck would have it they came across a good-sized
pan with very little sustrugi having completed 5 miles.
They all had a fantastic day skiing only marred slightly
for Caroline whose goggles continually froze obliterating
her view and causing her to have a few tumbles.
The team called First Air giving their position. Supper
of chicken curry, cheese and a mug of hot chocolate
followed with the team looking forward to a lie in
the following day.
April
26th 2002 - Day 45
Position: Latitude: 84° 52'N 71° 27'W
Distance traveled 6N miles
Weather: Started off cloudy and dull but ended up as
a glorious day with full sunshine and no wind. -34°C
Final
preparations are being made for Sunday's resupply.
Zoë Hudson, the teams Field Manager, arrived
into Ottawa about 6.00pm and spent a few frantic hours
shopping for the teams snack bags. They had decided
that they wanted to increase their calorie intake
and preferred to eat more chocolate and nuts than
increase their oil or butter intake. Zoë found
a fantastic shop 'Bulk Barn' where
She bought kilos of macadamias for a mere $C3-50 per
kilo and brazil, almonds and cashews.
The team is getting apprehensive about the resupply
now, worrying that if the weather changes the resupply
could be delayed which could have disastrous consequences
on the projected schedule for getting to the Pole.
They also have only two spare days of food left, the
clock is ticking. However they had a fantastic day
on the ice, sun shining they really enjoyed them selves.
The sea ice can be incredibly beautiful and today
was one of those days when the team knew why they
loved the Polar regions so much Poms back is better
but her feet are giving her a lot of trouble, both
Caroline and Ann are in good health
First Air has given the team instructions as to the
type of terrain the pilots require for landing and
they will be looking for a suitable airstrip on Saturday.
They have to find an area at least 1000 ft long by
50 ft wide with the sustrugi no more than 4 inches
high. Today they only saw one possible place for a
plane to land. There is still plenty of rubble around
and the pressure ridges, although much smaller and
filled with snow, are still plentiful. Once the team
has located a suitable strip they will be inform First
Air at Resolute Bay with co-ordinates of the position,
the weather, and surface conditions. This information
will be repeated on Sunday, resupply day, as the weather
pattern could change or they position could shift
overnight due to drift.
|
|
April
25th 2002 - Day 44
Position
- Latitude 84 46'N Longitude 71 43'W
Distance travelled during the previous day - 6 N miles
Distance travelled since the start - 100.2N Miles
Distance to go to the Pole - 3 | | | |