Dispatch #12

Northern Patagonian Icecap crossing 2009

Dispatches

nov 19

Published at 00:16

Singing in the snow

Camp 8, and Thorleif reports: We had a staggering 50 cm of snow last night,
so the hope of real progress was not great in the morning. But 16,5 km was
good. As it turned out, the weather was very warm so that the snow packed up
well and gave better conditions as we went. We even had a good spell
without jackets!
But, then it changes again. First white-out came sneaking, then a full blast
snow-storm came out way. It was 3 wet gents that hit camp at 8 pm after 9
hours of labour.
In fact, we have had more drying of wet clothes and equipment than expected.
That has resulted in two things: One is hat the morning session takes longer
than planned. Sometimes as much as 4 hours. Then secondly we use more fuel
than we normally do. We have brought some extra, but have little to spare.
We would not mind a somewhat easier weather pattern, but all in all we are
very content with progress, spirit and the whole experience.

Name: Camp 8
Elevation: 1250 m
Latitude: 46° 54’ 1” South
Longitude: 73° 32’ 54” West