South Pole via Kansas Glacier

déc. 07

#4:
Day 2

Published at 05:58
Dispatch created from email
Yesterday we switched to a different time zone (Anchorage) so that our noon would coincide with the sun?s zenith, meaning it would wheel around the sky behind as as we travelled, saving our eyes from constant glare. It also means our shadow is in front of us, a useful tool for navigation. At 12 noon it lays directly south, pointing at the pole (not entirely useful until we can ski directly to it) and shifts 15 degrees every hour.

Thankfully the strong wind petered out overnight and we woke to a fine morning with a bank of clouds still hovering over the mountains.

To our north we see the Ross Ice Shelf extending to the horizon. It was on this ice sheet that Captain Robert Scott and his team perished in March of 1912, having reached the pole but only to find Roald Amundsen?s tent standing there in priority.

Not far to our west lies the Axel Heiberg Glacier, discovered by Amundsen and further west again the Beardmore Glacier, discovered by Ernest Shackleton a few years earlier and used by Scott to gain access to the plateau and the pole. Between these glaciers lies the Shackleton, another massive glacier cutting through the Transantarctic Mountains, one that I pioneered together with Jon Muir and Peter Hillary in 1998. It?s good to be back in this place.

Today we covered a little over 19km in 7 hours of hauling. Towing a collective half tonne of food and equipment behind us, I reckon that?s pretty bloody good for a second day out.

Eric

Pics of our team in full stride, my shadow across sun-cupped snow and home on the range.

  • Name: Camp 2
  • Elevation: 505 m
  • Latitude: 85° 2036South
  • Longitude: 137° 5853West

Comments


  • Report as abuse...
    2017-12-08 02:46:38 dad says: Translated:To wake up in a warm bed with you r message from the frozen outdoors-Wonderful.Safe travels Eric and team. Hugs from Willy
  • Report as abuse...
    2017-12-07 20:02:22 Willylipsschipper@gmail.com says: Wakker worden in een warm bed met het bericht van jullie vanaf de ijsvlakte; wonderlijk. Voorspoedige voortzetting Eric en team. Xxx
  • Report as abuse...
    2017-12-07 10:53:35 Kate Watts says: So wonderful to keep up to date with Jades quest. What an amazing part of the world!


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