Bacon! A breakfast like no other for polar trekkers. And we needed it. Straight out of camp we were stymied by an awkward pressure zone that left us heaving, hauling and sweating. Giant blocks of ice barricaded the way, only narrow clefts just the width of our sleds gave passage forward. Ankle-breaker boulders half buried in snow added another complexity as did our traces snagging on protuberances. Great way to start the day and everyone loved the challenge.

Later we came across a giant frozen lead, perhaps 100m wide in places that had been demolished by pressure leaving the otherwise flat surface a maze of pans, cracks and ridges. We managed to ski on it for some time until a thin tendril sent us back onto pack ice. This was clearly one of the active leads that could be seen on satellite images before our departure.

Late in the afternoon we found tracks and met the international all-women team of skiers, guides and camera crew. Nice to see this cheery crowd in the middle of the ocean, faces icy from a day of hard breathing in sub-20’s. We are now camped just 100m apart.

Today’s hard work paid off with a distance of 19.6km, leaving a little over 20 to go. We may well crack that tomorrow if weather, drift and bodies play ball.

Just downed a Tandoori chicken with a creamy yoghurt sauce, Bobby a Teriyaki chicken. Not a good day for pigs or chooks on the ice!

Pics
1. Bobby coaxes his sled through the pressure zone
2. Cordula
3. Lorenz
4. Lorenz’s haute couture ice blue ruff
5. The women’s team