Dispatch #20 - South Pole via Kansas Glacier

South Pole via Kansas Glacier

Dispatches

Dec 21

#20:
Heading tiwards half way

Published at 04:44

Heath MacGyver was up until 11.30pm last night hacking away at the 12v Goal Zero solar panel, needed to charge Ming?s camera batteries. The fixed cable delivering power to the battery had fatigued a week ago and needed careful rewiring. The result, a Frankensteinesque creation but a full battery today!

For our 5v needs, we use Anker panels and batteries which have so far been faultless.

Just before lunch a thick bank of cloud scuttled our blue day making route finding difficult through the ever-increasing sastrugi. Campsites are becoming challenging to find so thick is the surface with icy protuberances. We are now above 87 degrees south and approaching the worst of it.

We pulled up stumps at 5pm, giving ourselves an early minute from a hard day on the ice. 17.1km of trail winds back to our previous camp and more than 100km of sastrugi remains ahead before we can enjoy flat hauling again.

256.8km covered, 328.2km to go.

Pics:
1. Passing some big sastrugi
2. Ming filming

Eric

Name: Camp 16
Elevation: 2591 m
Latitude: 87° 2’ 57” South
Longitude: 136° 13’ 4” West

Comments

2017-12-21 17:06:02 Lynda Prior says: Following your trip with great interest; loving the daily updates, it's like we are all there with you! Best wishes for continued success, LJP ✈️
2017-12-21 07:33:44 ann koenig says: And I am in the same boat as Clare Kelly - Peter and Margaret told us all about the trip, Jade. Best wishes
2017-12-21 04:51:27 Clare Kelly says: Following this expedition because of Jade. Heard her speak on radio and met her grandparents on a trip to India. They are very proud of you Jade as they should be. All the best for the rest of trip.