05/02/07
I started back at work today after arriving in the
We took many photographs along the route and hope to be able to add these to this website soon along with extracts from my journal.
Beth X
17/01/07 - 7.20pm
THEY HAVE ARRIVED AT THE SOUTH POLE.
They reached the South Pole at just after 3.30pm Chilean time and 5.30am South Pole time (6.30pm
Beth was still giggling with excitement when she phoned 4hours after they had arrived. They had pitched the tents dug up the food stash and met Andy - the Station Manager and a number of other very friendly people. She said all the station staff were really lovely and treated them to some American style cookies which were great.
Andy referred to Beth, Correne and Denise as DVs which on querying she learnt meant 'dignified visitors' although she suggested it might be more appropriately 'dirty visitors' given the state of them. Beth had been really shock to see other people again and realised just how terrible they were now all looking. Their faces are now a weathered brown colour and very skinny. Obviously they have gradual changed and the realisation of just how much was not apparent until they saw other more healthy looking people.
She said that the artificial light in the building made her feel very strange and her eyes didn't seem to be able to cope with it properly for some time. Correne found walking on the hard floors almost difficult after being stuck on skies on the snow and ice for so long.
The US Amundsen-Scott Research Station is a peculiar place. When they arrived there was nothing going on and all was quiet but after a short while things got going and before long the area had become very busy. Trucks and skidoos started ferrying people, materials and equipment around and the canteen started serving both breakfast and dinner at the same time because the station operates on a 3 shift rota system so some are going to bed as others are getting up. Something like 6 planes land each day bringing in different research parties and supplies with all supplies and materials having been ordered 3 years in advance of it arriving.
Lots of different science projects are underway. Considerable work in connection with changing atmosphere and global warming issues is ongoing. They also passed by the drilling rigs for the IceCube Project which she hoped to find out more about but essentially seems to involve the drilling of holes in excess of a mile deep into the ice in order to build a special telescope to monitor neutrinos!?
Today had not been a bad day weather wise with just a little snow and temperatures around -24°C with wind chill at -36°C. They had covered the 9 nautical miles fairly quickly but spent time hunting for food in the ALE food stash. Beth had found some Kendall Mint Cake with a 1990 use by date which she kept out. The food stash will stop them starving although not resolve many of their cravings being mainly full of all the items unused by previous expeditions.
They now await news from Patriot Hills as to when they will be airlifted out. The latest feedback seems that they may have to wait until a couple of others who are skiing the last degree to the South Pole arrive. Their concern is being back at Patriot Hills in time to catch the next flight out from Patriot Hills to
The journey took a total of 54 days including 7 rest days. They arrived at the South Pole on the same day 95 years on from when Captain Scott arrived. I expect not for moment would he ever had imagined 3 women to have achieved this feat 95 years later.
Beth wanted to thank everyone who has been so supportive of her over the last couple of months and also for the donations made to the Children's Fire and Burn Trust.
She very much looks forwarded to catching up with everyone on her return.
Many Thanks
16/01/07 - 9.20pm
They are now just 9 nautical miles from the South Pole (S89°51') having covered approximately 15nm again today. They are very excited but even though they are only 9nm and the ground is flat the visibility is not good enough to make out anything that might be a building to the south.
Beth believes her coughing is actually a cold rather than due to just the cold air because she has developed a sore throat, sneezes and aches. She can only think that it must have been caught from one of the people they saw at the last re-supply location where one of the Twin Otters paid them a visit along with some passengers.
Whilst Beth was speaking on the satellite phone Denise received some excellent news that the horizontal, high voltage, antenna wire that stretches 7km out from the South Pole is currently switched off and therefore rather than have to walk around it in a long loop they can walk straight to the South Pole passing beneath the wire.
With the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station operating on New Zealand time 14 hours ahead of Chilean time they should arrive just as the various scientists and personnel based at the research station are just getting up for the day.
Hopefully they will meet some of the people based there and hear about some of the projects that are going on at the moment.
The latest reports from Patriot Hills suggest that they might have to camp at the South Pole for 2 days before they can be airlifted out and taken back to Patriot Hills where they will finally be able to wash and have some proper food.
15/01/07 – Text Message - approx 9.30pm
Text Message: "S89°36.01 W081°56.43 15.1nm. Sunny snow soft. Denise storming along last 2 legs. Blizzard at Patriot Hills"
14/01/07 – 9.20pm
Only 39 nautical miles to go after covering 15.4 nautical miles today. In the afternoon the sun started to peep through the clouds and the wind dropped slightly.
Last night they all slept in the one tent mainly because they had set off late yesterday due to the blowing spindrift making visibility intolerably low and then had kept on going until late to compensate and with the ongoing poor weather did not want to pitch both tents at the end of the day. Whilst this made for considerably warmer night they didn't sleep well constantly causing each other to wake due to the confines of the tent.
What probably didn't help them sleep is the fact that Beth has developed a nasty sounding cough due to the irritation of the cold air on her lungs. Her diaphragm and ribs now hurt from coughing she said together with just about every inch of her body.
One of their stoves has now stopped working. This stove would normally have been used in the small tent to both melt water for the next day but also at the same time generate some warmth in the tent. Without it Beth can only keep warm enough in the small tent on her own by getting into her sleeping bag which makes doing anything other than sleeping in the tent near impossible.
The marches have been hard work with only minimal breaks to avoid body temperatures from falling when they stop generating their own heat from exercising. However, with the sun breaking through later in the day, they were treated to a spectacular rainbow halo effect from the sun due to an optical phenomena caused by the refraction of the suns light by ice crystals in the air.
The knee that Beth had worried about seems to be holding out and so although Beth is now constantly tired she seemed sufficiently optimistic to acknowledge that they should in theory actually be able to make it now.
The ground they are travelling on is now absolutely flat. They are on top of the South Polar Plateau very close to the same altitude as the South Pole of 2850m (9350ft) with possibly just a hundred metres or so to gradually gain before the pole.
The South Pole's temperatures at this time of year are in the average range of -25°C to -28°C ignoring wind chill. The coldest recorded temperature here is -83°C although this is not the coldest ever recorded anywhere. This record is held by the Russian Vostok base at the South Geomagnetic Pole some 700 miles away but at an altitude of 3488m where a temperature of -89.2°C was recorded in 1983.
The team remain on track to arrive at the South Pole exactly 95 years to the day on from the English explorer Captain Robert F Scott and his team who arrived at the pole on 17th January 1912.
13/01/07 – Text Message - approx 11.40pm
"S89 05.69 W081 07.70, 14.7m. OK today, white out but wind slightly behind so doesn't get fingers and face. Crossed 89°! Knee hurt a bit but OK. Latest weather update = bad till Tuesday."
The team are now in their last degree of latitude. They now have less than 55 nautical miles to the South Pole. All being well they should be able to cover this distance in four days making their latest estimated arrival likely on the evening of Wednesday 17th January.
12/01/07 – 10.30pm
Yesterday they waited fruitlessly for the storm to pass but it did not calm. By late afternoon they decided to head out and risk the extreme cold. They have only just enough food to keep them going for about 6 days. They therefore can not afford to sit out stormy weather. However, the risks in continuing in these conditions are significant; with frostbite taking only seconds to set in when skin becomes directly exposed to the elements but with food in short supply and the stormy weather preventing air access they have to decide what is best.
At the South Pole is a buried stash of food left by previous expeditions which means that they can dig this up and be well fed once they reach their destination.
Despite poor visibility and the strong winds they managed to put in 4 lots 1hr10min long marches yesterday taking them through to 11pm (Chile Time) 1pm (South Pole Time). They covered a distance of 7.4nm. Although yesterdays marches were made late in the day they decided in the end not to switch their 'time zone' and to keep with the Chilean time zone for now.
Today there was still no let-up in the weather conditions. The reports from the South Pole weather station is that the wind is expected to stay for another 3days based on satellite images. Other expeditions are reported to be staying in their tents. However Beth, Correne and Denise set out again today determined to reach the South Pole before their provision run out.
Through the day the winds continued; whipping up the loose snow particles from the surface and causing swirling snow spindrift adding to their discomfort and navigational difficulties. The cold weather means that they have to focus on keeping themselves warm and just put their heads down and battle on. The cold weather makes listening to music or audio books on their iPods, which have helped them keep going, near impossible and even communication with each other is difficult. They had to stop during the course of the day to rewarm hands and feet. Denise's fingers and feet had become so cold at one point that the only way to rewarm them was to use the others body warmth.
Despite their various cold related problems they managed to put in a full day and covered 13.4nm which is not bad considering the conditions. Whilst Beth has been enjoying the expedition the bad weather that they now face and the constant concern to avoid frostbite means that she is now more keen than ever to succeed in making it to the South Pole soon.
Beth is now most of the time hungry although the cold reduces the hunger. She is also very tired and has started to develop a sharp knee pain. She explained that the knee pain is the same as a knee pain she has had previously which developed during a cycle trip across the
She said that she was now so unclean and her skin so battered that she did not even think about washing and clean clothes anymore. At their first re-supply and again at Thiels the team had had a change of clothes which had been greatly welcomed. By the final re-supply the thought of cleanliness and fresh clothes no longer was important and she now is thinking more of making it to the South Pole than of these luxuries.
Fortunately, unlike Captain Robert Scott, they must only reach the South Pole and do not have to consider how they will return. Scott was caught out by bad weather conditions on his return from the South Pole which played a significant part in preventing his team reaching their re-supply location before they ran out of provisions and perished eventually just 11 miles from their supplies. The letter that Captain Scott wrote to his wife and others whilst sitting in his tent with the storm blowing were donated on Wednesday by his descendants to the Scott Polar Research Institute based at
Scott reached the South Pole on 17-18th January 1912. Beth and the the team are therefore currently on track to arrive exactly 95 years on from the first arrival of a British explorer at the Pole. Unfortunately Scott was beaten to the South Pole by the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen who reached the Pole just over month earlier using 4 sleds pulled by dogs.
11/01/07 – Text Message - approx 1.40pm
Beth sent a text message from her tent explaining that due to strong winds and very cold conditions they are sitting tight in their tents in the hope that the winds will drop-off a little. At the time the windchill was -46°C.
Later she sent another text message confirming that the wind was still strong but they planned to set off at about 6pm (Chile Time) and ski through what has until now been their night time with a proposed finish time of about 3 or 4am. With 24hour daylight it does not matter what time of day they travel although as they use their shadows to assist navigation they will have to get used to travelling with their shadows at different angles.
The South Pole's official 'time zone' is the same as New Zealand time and this is the time zone in which the scientists based there work to. The decision to travel during the Chilean night time means that they are now closer to South Pole time which is 14 hours ahead of Chilean time. They will thus be setting off at 8am South Pole time.
10/01/07 – Text Message
They are so close to achieving their objective however Beth is now very tired and was today finding it hard to keep up with Denise and Correne. She comments that with the soft snow the sled now feels like dragging cement. They have made some redistributed of the food provisions in their sleds in the hope that Beth will be able to regain the pace. By the end of the day they had achieved a respectable 12.4 nautical miles but had all found it hard to keep themselves warm.
Correne reported that "today we experienced
By evening the winds had dropped but windchill remained at least -40°C.
They are now at a latitude of 88°30' South leaving them just 1½ degrees of latitude from the South Pole which equates to a total of 90 nautical miles.
09/01/07 – 9.00pm
The team spent the day at their final re-supply location resting, repacking and fixing kit ready for their final leg of the journey. Beth accidentally punctured her ThermaRest sleeping mat with a knife and was therefore intending to try to repair this before moving on.
The weather is very cold and windy again. Correne took weather readings of:
Temp. -21°C, wind 12 kts, wind-chill -39°C and Altitude: 2684m (approx.)
Their final leg is just over 100 nautical miles (115 statute miles or 185km) if they travel in a straight line. They will however need to make a small wiggle on their South Pole approach to avoid a 7km antenna.
08/01/07 (End of Day Position Update)
Beth confirmed by text message that they reached their final re-supply today having had a day of warm weather. They travelled for a total of 5 hours today and covered 9.3nm to reach their reported position at S88°17.77 W080°26.46.
The message read "not loads of food for next 8 days but good news there is lots of butter and cheese".
In the last few days food (or the lack of it) seems to have become a subject of much thought. They will have lost a lot of weight and most likely now have little in the way of body fat reserves to use up. The butter will probably be gone in no time!
Their latest estimate of 8 days to the Pole would see them arrive on Tuesday 16th January.
07/01/07 – 9.15pm
They are now at S88°08.87 W081°41.38 having covered a further 15nm today. Today was a much warmer clearer day than the last few days although clouds have now moved in again.
The team appear to have stopped gaining altitude for now and spent most of the day on the level. The surface remains covered in sastrugi and they had to pass through an area of crevasses yesterday.
They were pleased to learn that the Ilyushin Plane has now been fixed following wind damage at
The team expect to reach their final re-supply location tomorrow which is now less than 10nm away. Beth will then switch again to sleeping in the small single tent for the remainder of the expedition to the South Pole.
06/01/07 (End of Day Position Update)
Text Message: "S87°54.45 W083°28.69, 13.7nm"
Tomorrow they should pass latitude 88° South. Their current position leaves them a further 23.5nm to go before their final re-supply at the location where the RAF's Southern Reach team were airlifted out. They should cover this distance in 2 days therefore arriving there on Monday afternoon. From there to the South Pole should then take a further 7 or 8 days if they continue at the pace they have been achieving in the last few days. The weather over the last few days has been extremely cold with strong winds creating near unbearable windchill temperatures.
05/01/07 (End of Day Position Update)
Text Message: "S87°40.92 W084°12.71, 13.4nm. Tired today. Coldest air temp so far -43°C with windchill."
Their reported position puts them into the final quarter of their journey.
04/01/07 – 9.30pm
The weather turned nasty after they had pitched the tents yesterday. Beth said the cloudy storm had moved in incredibly quickly with very cold winds. The weather continues to be cold and windy today. When they set off this morning the visibility was very low. Skiing became so hard and falls so regular that they all, including Denise who is a very strong skier, removed their skis and took to walking instead.
Later during the day the sunlight broke through and they returned to using their skis. Unfortunately during the poor conditions one of the baskets on Beth's ski poles must have worked loose and dropped off. This at present will not be a big problem as the ice is reasonably hard however they expect it to become softer and deeper as they continue towards the pole so she may have to try to fashion a replacement from other kit.
In total they covered 12.8 nautical miles today 'as the crow flies'. The surface was mainly covered in large sastrugi today so progress was again relatively slow and the actual distance travelled higher due to the accumulation of all the wiggles made to avoid large sastrugi. They have switched their marching routine to 7 lots of 70 minutes (rather than 8 X 60mins) with approximately 15mins rest between each march.
The cold windy weather has again added to their difficulties. A tent pole snapped as they tried to put the tents up. They are also now coughing from the cold air they have been breathing and the increased risk of injury through cold exposure has returned.
A seemingly bigger blow is that they have unexpectedly run-out of one of their favourite foods - 'butter'. A thick layer of butter on crackers has become one of their favourite snacks. Unfortunately they must have misjudged the quantity when packing. Having searched their bags they are sure they have none. So its plain crackers from now on!
Beth commented that most days she is constantly hungry. However, yesterday evening Denise and Correne had been feeling a little off and were unable to finish their meals and thus Beth had their leftovers. This was the most full she has been since their early Christmas break at Thiels.
03/01/07 11.54pm
Text Message: "S87°15.02 W085°30.71, 15.2nm. Sunny day then after we camped bad weather came v quickly clouds wind."
02/01/07 – 10.00pm
The day was spent resting, eating and sleeping. Beth has had lots of sleep now and has regained her strength for the next leg. Denise cooked up a soup for lunch made from leftover dinner salami and a cupasoup - something different for lunch is a real treat. Food during the day consists mainly of Salami, Cheese and chocolate. It is near impossible to eat sufficient calories each day to match the calories burnt off and therefore it is inevitable that they loose weight despite best efforts to eat high calorie food.
Beth carried out further repairs to her woollen boot duffles. She has had to repair these a number of times along the way. The duffles are essentially the lining of the boots which provide the main insulation from the cold within the ski-boots which Beth is using. When they are new the duffles are thick, made from dense matted wool. As they are used and the foot moves in the boot the wool disintegrates and becomes thin particularly at the heel where it rubs most. The duffles have now been repaired a number of times and there are repairs on top of repairs. Beth has been cutting parts from the upper less important parts of the duffles to fix onto the heel and other thin or disintegrated parts.
Inside the duffles Beth wears a thin pair of inner socks followed by a vapour barrier sock over which she wears thick socks. Over the boots Beth wears yeti gaiters. The vapour barrier sock prevents any sweat from getting into the thick socks or duffles which would freeze and cause problems. Each evening the thin inner socks and vapour barrier socks can be dried relatively easily in the tent. The system also means that only a couple of lightweight spare inner socks need to be carried.
Beth was very pleased to have had time today to have a good warm water wash which she has not had for quite some time.
A couple of Beth's chilblains got to a stage where they appeared very susceptible to infection, she therefore commenced a course of antibiotics to counter the potential onset of an infection whilst the wounds are healing. Denise described Beth's legs as "looking like she has been in a fight with a midget". However, overall they are now starting to heal.
01/01/07
Text message: "S87°00.01 W086°00.87 14.8m rest day tomorrow for us"
They have now completed seven out of the ten degrees of latitude to the South Pole.
31/12/06 – 10.05pm
Beth called to wish everyone a Happy New Year.
They are continuing to do well with the weather conditions remaining good and not much in the way of awkward sastrugi but still the soft snow. They covered another 14.3nm and their position for New Years Eve is S86°45.355 W086°13.832. This means that they are now more than two thirds of the way to the South Pole.
They have now been going for 8 days since their rest days at Thiels and plan to take a rest day in the next few days to break up this leg of the journey. Their next re-supply is at Latitude S88°17' and therefore another 92nm closer to the pole although it is at W80°27' and therefore they still need to travel further East which will add to the overall distance. They might hope with good conditions to cover this kind of distance in 7 days worth of marches although they have allowed another 9 days in terms of their fuel and provisions which includes one rest day. This would therefore mean that they would get to the re-supply on 9th January and would most likely take a rest day there and set off for their final leg to the Pole on 11th January. From the final re-supply to the South Pole is about 103nm in a direct line which might take 7-8 days to complete all being well making their current estimate for arrival at the South Pole the 19th January 2007.
They had originally been scheduled to fly out of Patriot Hills on the Ilyushin IL76 back to Chile on 10th January however due to the poor weather delays getting out to the Antarctic they are now aiming for a schedule flight out on 23rd January. Whilst these are the target scheduled flight dates it is quite often that it is a few days or even a week before the weather is actually good enough for the flight to leave. The final flight out of
Correne reports their current altitude at 1969m, Temperature at -18°C and wind at 8.2knots.
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE
30/12/06
The team have had another good day covering over 14 nautical miles. There were some sastrugi early in the day but these ended leaving smooth flat ground for the majority of the day. The snow remains powdery which they now expect to continue most of the way to the South Pole. Correne has started using her replacement skis which seem fine; she is particularly pleased with how comfortable her boots have been.
They have gradually been gaining altitude over the last few days and are now at approximately 1850m leaving about another 1000m still to climb. Most of the height gain should be made over the next few days as they head for their final re-supply which is estimated to be at approximately 2650m.
The weather has remained relatively good with a light easterly wind (approx. 3.5 knots), instead of the usual headwind, and the temperature at about -15°C.
Yesterday the Twin Otters flew low overhead which may have been going, amongst other things, to pick up Hannah McKeand after her very successful record breaking journey. She reached the South Pole at 8.33pm on Thursday according to ThePoles.com making her total time 39days, 10 hours and 33 minutes which is nearly 2 days faster than the previous world record. She is now officially the fastest unsupported South Pole skier in the world. To have persevered on her own carrying all her supplies the whole way is incredible - very well done.
Unfortunately it is understood that Mike Thornewill who the team met up with at Thiels has had to abandon his expedition after just 5 days due to a painful back injury. His departure from the team leaves the remainder of the team as another 'all girl' team out their on the ice led by the previous speed record holder Fiona Thornewill. They were flown in to a location approximately 75nm from the Pole on Christmas Eve.
Additional photos taken at the start of the expedition have been posted back to the
28/12/06 – 8.20pm
The weather continues to be clear, sunny and warm (warm in terms of Antarctic weather). The surface has been relatively flat today but the snow quite soft which makes pulling the sleds hard work. The powdery frozen snow particles are similar to sand and create considerable friction to pull against. As result of the thick snow and heavier loads they achieved a below average distance of between 12 and 13nm today.
The fine weather has been most welcome in terms of their various ailments. It has meant that the chilblains have been able to start to heal. Also being able to see the lie of the surface means that less stain is put on muscles, in particular the shoulders, by the reduced need to respond to unexpected level changes.
The most recent concern has been with their stoves. They have been carrying a total of 3 stoves. Two of these had stopped working and despite the teams efforts in taking them to bits, cleaning and reassembling they still did not work. Today their concerns and frustration with having to use just the single stove (and the potential risk should this fail) led to a call to Mike Sharp of ALE who advised that they remove the fuel filters! They did this and the stoves are now all fully functional, less filters, and they are even more endeared to the guys at ALE. Fortunately with ALE providing transfer of equipment and people to and from the South Pole and support for other expeditions there are flights passing nearby every so often and therefore it would be possible for an unscheduled drop to be made on route should their stoves completely fail.
So far the team has been very lucky in avoiding areas with crevasses. However, crevasses are likely to become a more frequent occurrence as they ascend some of the steeper sections up towards the Polar Plateau. Crevasses occur where the glacial ice is forced, by the weight of snow and ice further uphill, over uneven sub-layers causing it to bend and crack on its upper surface. The blowing snow then, over time, covers these cracks freezing to form an ice bridge spanning the crack. When the snow is fresh it can be very hard to spot the crevasses and even when they are spotted it is hard to know the strength of the bridge. It is usual amongst climbers when crossing areas with crevasses to be roped to each other for safety however this is not deemed practical for Antarctic expeditions. Generally the length of their skies spreads their load sufficiently to minimise the risk of the crevasse bridges collapsing as they cross.
John (who waited in
All in all the good weather and the fact that today they passed 86° South (3 fifths of the way) has put them in good spirits and they hope for a few more decent weather days.
27/12/06
Text message: "S85°51.52 W086°44.45 13.4nm, RS3 is at S88°17 W080°27.65, Skied over crevasse - first we've seen. Legs & face good healing."
NB: RS3 = 3rd Re-supply location.
Well done to the Marines/Royal Navy team (PolarQuest) who successfully reached the South Pole on boxing day having started from Patriot Hills on 12th November. They have had kites delivered to the South Pole which they now intend to use to assist their return trip.
And, also well done to Hannah McKeand who now expects to reach the South Pole tomorrow and with this beat the world record for the fastest person to complete the journey from the coast of the Antarctic Continent to the South Pole unsupported. She is currently camped 14.5nm from the South Pole. She left Hercules Inlet on 19th November and, presuming she arrives at the South Pole tomorrow as predicted, she will have made the journey in an amazing 40 days which beats the current record held by Fiona Thornewill who in 2001 made the same journey in 42 days.
26/12/06 – 9pm
Beth sent a text message saying her chilblains remain ok and the weather has been "hot and sunny". They have covered 14.2 and 13.4 nautical miles respectively over the last two days since leaving Thiels. They are now heading a little east which means they generally have to pass over sastruggi ridges rather than round them as the ridges mainly lie in a north south alignment having been formed by the prevailing katabatic winds which blow out from the South Pole. This makes going in anything other than southerly direction a little tougher.
She also wanted to say well done to the RAF team and get well soon. It was exciting and a little weird for them to meet other people in this environment in the middle of nowhere but was very welcome for them all to see others and particularly others familiar with what they are going through.
They are now leaving the Thiels mountains and the Trans-Antarctic range of mountains behind and will most likely not see anything but snow and ice from now on.
25/12/06 – 7.30am
Before Beth set off she called to wish Happy Christmas to everyone. The team has now had 3 days off at Thiels. They extended their stay by an extra day because it was confirmed that John the ALE Doctor based at Patriot Hills would be dropping in at Thiels for a re-fuel on the planes’ way to collecting the RAF Team (Southern Reach) from near S88°19 where unfortunately very sadly they have had to abandon there expedition due to medical issues. This provided an opportunity for Beth to talk through her medical concerns with John who has considerable experience of the injuries suffered by Antarctic explorers. He carried out acupuncture on both Beth and Correne in relation to their shoulder pains and Correne’s leg pain. He also updated the team about all the other expeditions and the problems and challenges they were all experiencing. I think many of the stories made them feel somewhat grateful for the relatively few problems they have had so far. He reported that this year the particularly harsh conditions have resulted in a huge number of cold related problems. Five out of the eight on the expedition to ski the last degree to the South Pole had to pull out due to cold related injuries.
Overall, their stay at Thiels has been a highlight with their Christmas meal, visits from John and the greatly appreciated treats sent from Patriot Hills (particular thanks to Fran). In addition, on the plane flying out to collect the RAF were Mike and Fiona Thornewill (both experienced polar explorers and record holders) who were on route to being dropped at S88°23 with their clients to undertake an expedition ‘finishing Shackleton’s expedition’ e.g. starting from the place where Shackleton turned back and finishing at the South Pole (see their weblog). They also met the RAF boys at 1am when they dropped in for fuel on their way back to Patriot Hills.
It sounds like they had an interesting few days which has put them (or certainly Beth) in good spirits ready for the next half of the expedition. John was able to give Beth his opinion on her chilblains and provide additional dressings which will hopefully help protect them and help avoid infection. Beth was greatly appreciative of John’s visit who was able to impart his knowledge so as to set her mind at rest as to the best medical decisions to make.
The team are now fully loaded for the next stretch which they estimate will take them approximately 17 days. They planned to set off later this morning following phone calls to loved ones. Correne has also been able to charge up her PDA and has sent some interesting Photos back using the Contact 3.0 software system. These can be seen on her website www.correne.co.za
Whilst the plan had been for the next re-supply to be dropped at S88°23 where Mike and Fiona Thornewill were to start the arrangement changed again in light of the RAF pick-up which has meant that the RAF’s supplies (too heavy for the flight) including fuel has been left at there collection point together with Beth, Denise and Correne’s supplies. In order to reach this re-supply they will need to head back east in a curve to avoid a known crevasse field to pick up with the RAF’s more direct route to the South Pole collect the provision (and probably the extras left by the RAF) and then head back West to pick-up their approach route to the South Pole which is again more west so as to avoid the radio antennae which is aligned close to their approach route and is a designated restricted area.
Merry Christmas and thank you to everyone for their kind support and messages – it is greatly appreciated.
22/12/06 – 8.34pm
Text message: "We got 2 Thiels yest after whopping 21.7nm skied more than 10hrs. 2 rest days here. PH sent treats eating lot. Lips bad."
PH = Patriot Hills (ALE's field station on
21/12/06
The team have now reached Thiels re-supply after making the decision to push on past S85° for their longest and furthest day yet. Correne’s husband has spoken to Correne and posted an update on her website: www.correne.co.za
They now plan to rest for two days before pushing on with the second half of the expedition. Hopefully this will give Beth’s shoulders some much needed recovery time and general recuperation.
Their position is now: S85°12.018 W087°52.945
They have some of the toughest terrain still to cover and some steep passes to climb as they ascend to the polar plateau. They still need to climb over 1,300m and as they gain height the air will continue to thin adding to the pressure on their respiratory systems. The actual oxygen levels at the South Pole are even less than normal for these altitudes due to the added effect of the earth’s rotation on gravity.
The surface conditions are also expected to become increasingly difficult as they proceed. Hannah McKead who is current only about 100 nautical miles from the South Pole and hopefully on-track for achieving a world record for the journey is reporting very difficult conditions see: http://www.adventurehannah.com/sptracker.html for her latest despatches.
20/12/06 – 8.45pm
Beth is now more tired than she has been the whole journey so far and is looking forward to reaching Thiels where they have a planned rest day. Her shoulder pain appears to be worsening and the Diclofenac is not relieving the pain. She has been waking with a numb sensation in her arms and thinks muscle swelling is causing nerve pressure. However, she remains determined and optimistic. Hopefully the rest day will give her shoulders a chance to recover.
All being well they will cross the 85th parallel tomorrow and with this will have completed the first half of the expedition. They are now just 20 nautical miles from the Thiels re-supply which the plan to reach on Friday.
They have just received news that their final re-supply will now be dropped at S88°23 as opposed to the original plan for it to be dropped at S87°5. This means that the next leg will be the longest of the journey. They estimate it will take them 17 days based on their progress so far. Unfortunately this was not welcome news, the next section of the journey takes them up a number of steep and tough sections and is likely to be overall the toughest section of the expedition. The later re-supply means that their Thiels re-supply has been increased with the consequence that they will be lugging heavier sleds through potentially the worst section. The new location for the final re-supply at S88°23 is 97 nautical miles from the South Pole which will put them approximately 6-7 days from their finish if they move at the pace they have been going the last few days. The location is on the South Polar Plateau and therefore the majority of their ascent to the South Pole will be complete by this stage with the re-supply location estimated at approximately 2,700m altitude.
The reason for the changed location of the re-supply is understood to be related to the logistics involved in providing for another expedition to this location (S88°23) where Shackleton "turned back" on his Nimrod Expedition in 1907-1909.
18/12/06 – 10.20pm
Text message: "rest days after thiels. Record day 15.5 miles can c thiels b there fri. S84 22.35 W085 18.97"
17/12/06 – 8.35pm
Another milestone has been reached - today the team pushed on past the 84th parallel. They are now more than two fifths of the way. Their 8 one-hour marches produced a total distance of 15.2 nautical miles which is one of their best days so far. Beth reported that the weather had been better through the day with considerably less wind than yesterday and greater visibility but still significant sastrugi.
Unfortunately, the recent strong headwind and resultant wind-chill has led to Beth suffering additional minor ailments. A little frostnip has occurred on her right hand mainly to her middle right finger. She has lost sensation in this finger which she thinks will return in time. Frostnip is essentially the first stage towards frostbite but, unlike frostbite, it normally fully heels as no permanent tissue damage occurs. Frostbite is where the flesh actually freezes and the crystals that form destroy the cells making it necessary on occasion for the effected parts to be surgically removed to prevent systemic infection.
Beth also reported that she has now developed a few strange facial lumps. Denise believes these are similar to something she has had previously. Beth described them as white raised patches, the largest of which is about the size of a 1 pence piece. They are very itchy similar to chilblains. Denise thought they might be called ‘cold panniculitis’. Looking at the eMedicine website it seems that that might be the right diagnosis although, as with most of these extreme cold related injuries, there is no particular remedy to cure them.
The increased load and tough conditions have also brought back Beth’s shoulder pains again and she has resorted to taking diclofenac to reduce inflammation and the pain.
Beth is now getting very tired and exhausted having struggled in the poor conditions over the last few days. She hopes the weather will improve which would make the overall going easier. However, the team now expect not to take a rest day before Thiels and plan to try to reach Thiels on Friday evening if possible.
Correne is still travelling on foot. Beth described the appearance of her marching along with some amusement as the weight of the sled makes the walking motion somewhat unnatural and this combined with the ducktape and goggles with sleeving attached that Correne has assembled to prevent the fogging of her glasses makes her quite an odd sight. Hopefully after Thiels some photos will be available. Overall walking seems to be working well. Correne had got to the stage with her uncomfortable skis where the pain in her feet had got so bad that, in her words, “she could feel the pain in her ears”.
Beth said sleeping in the second tent on her own was actually quite nice. She has her own set of tent rules, which includes sneaking an extra 5mins sleep some mornings. It also means that she can keep her sleeping bag in the tent. In the main tent, where they heat water and do the cooking, it is too risky to keep sleeping bags where they might get wet and also the space is limited with all 3 in there eating.
They can now see what is called a ‘Nunatuk’ which is where the rocky top of what would be a mountain peak sticks up above the ice surface. They provide some interest to pass in this bleak landscape and also provide a reference for how far they have travelled (when there is some visibility) which can at times be hard to gauge. Over the next few days they hope to start to see the Thiels mountain range depending on visibility conditions.
16/12/06
Latest distance and position: "14.2 S83 52.346 W084 22.815 windy and large sastrugi"
15/12/06
Latest distance and position: "14.1nm S83 38.537 W083 55.903"
14/12/06 - 9.00pm
The weather improved a bit but was soon back to its usual poor visibility. With continued poor visibility, uneven ground and now increased load in the sleds progress has been slow. They managed to cover a total of 13 nautical miles which was good considering the conditions but below their target to enable them to reach Thiels by Christmas. At Thiels they hope to have a rest day and have a Christmas meal however if they don’t make it by Christmas they will be falling behind schedule and having already been delayed by bad weather with their flights at the start it will be less easy to relax.
Denise is anxious that they have another rest day before they reach Thiels as they are pushing themselves hard each day and without the regular breaks they risk levels of exhaustion which might compromise the expedition. They need to average over 13.5nm (25km) a day to achieve this and so far the last couple of days they have fallen just beneath the target. Hopefully the weather will improve soon.
Oddly today they had a tail wind (northerly) which is the opposite to the usual prevailing headwind. Because the South Pole is at 2,835m (9,300 ft) above sea level, strong katabatic winds usually blow from the pole out as the air mass is drawn by gravity downhill. A couple of expeditions this year are carrying kites which they will attempt to use for their return trips from the pole. They will be relying on using these katabatic winds to power them (see www.TeamN2i.com who are just starting to use their kites).
Beth and Correne both wear glasses, albeit Beth usual uses contact lenses. Correne has been having problems with her glasses steaming up but it seems may have resolved this with duck tape. It is less of an issue in the windier weather as the convection clears the vapour before it mists the glasses up. Beth has been using contact lenses so far without problems although they are not rated for such extreme temperatures. She has to carry all the fluids and the spares which are contained in liquid in a pocket close to her to prevent freezing which would destroy the contents. So far she has managed to avoid them freezing, although she does have back-up glasses if need be. She did however report that the ice that has been forming on her goggles has caused scratches which are unhelpful to spotting the lie of the ground in white out conditions.
Beth has now swapped tent with Correne and is therefore on her own for the next section of the journey. She said that it is colder in the tent on her own but her sleeping bag is incredibly warm so it is not a problem. She also obviously has less company however as they all eat in the one tent it is not bad. What is more of a problem is her watch has stopped working which is an important piece of her expedition equipment which she has no backup for. She though it might be possible to rely on her iPod to tell the time.
Overall they are in good spirits and doing well.
11/12/06 - 9.15pm
The team have reached their first re-supply at just before 83 degrees south. They had a hard day in white-out conditions and very uneven surfaces. They pushed through for 9 hours (their longest day yet) in order to reach the re-supply. They plan to spend the day tomorrow resting and repacking their provision ready for the next leg of the expedition which will take them to their second re-supply at Thiels. They estimate based on current speed to arrive at Thiels in approximately 12 days.
They are all now starting to suffer minor ailments as a result of the inhospitable weather conditions. Beth has developed significant chilblains on her thighs due to the continued exposure to the cold. Denise, and Correne to a lesser extent, have also been suffering from Chilblains. The reduced wind speeds over the last few days has enabled their frostnip to start to heel. Beth's cheek skin is now on the mend.
Correne's skis have continued to prove awkward and she has now almost completely abandoned using them and resorted to walking. Whilst this defies the established method of Antarctic travel it is so far proving to be possible, although if snow depths increase it may prove less easy. The skis she has are it seems too long and too narrow to handle the sastrugi that the team have been experiencing. A shorter pair will be included in the re-supply at Thiels where she will be able to dump her existing skis which at present are adding an unwelcome extra 4kg to her sled weight.
Beth reported that her skis have started to fall to bits with one of the brackets which hold the boot straps in place having broken off. Her boot liners have also badly disintegrated to the extent that they are now near impossible to repair. Her glove linings are also in a poor state.
The weather has been consistently poor with very low visibility and white-outs making their passage over the sastrugi a little treacherous. Beth reported that they had all been falling often either due to unseen obstacles or changes in level or simply as a result of the white-out condition leading to a lack of sense of the horizon.
Correne has now given up trying to get the PDA working as the battery simply does not want to charge properly from the solar panel and therefore she has been unable to send any photos back recently. It is hoped that with an additional battery in the re-supply they will be able to get it working again. Overall batteries seem to be extremely problematic in these extreme cold conditions.
For some excellent updates on the team's progress look at Correne's website which Correne's Husband has been updating with the latest news and progress of the team.
09/12/06
They managed to cover another 13.9nm in 8hrs. The latest distance and co-ordinates can be seen on the Map & Info page under “Data Log” Beth sent text message to say her face has not got worse with the wind speeds now reduced. Hopefully the wind will stay weaker long enough for he cheeks to recover sufficiently.
08/12/06
Text message sent stating “good day, mixed terrain. 13.9nm in 8hrs”
07/12/06 – 9.30pm
They have had a approx. 23knot headwind all day. Beth reported that it had been tough going with lots of sastruggi. She is finding it hard to get sufficient grip with the half skins and uneven surfaces. The tape she has been using in an attempt to protect her face has not been totally effective. She explained that when she removed the tape some of her skin peeled off with it and other patches look brown. They think the skin should heal without scars but she will need to be careful not to let it get worse. Both Denise and Correne also have some frostnip. Denise has a small patch on her forehead and Correne on her chin. The headwind and –41C temperatures has meant that their faces have taken a battering over the last couple of days. Beth reported that ice has been forming incredibly quickly on her nose beak which becomes hard and less effective at protecting her face. Most of her face is protected by a balaclava and the goggles but it is necessary to have a small opening to allow breathing and the vapour from her breath to escape. The nose beak is a flap of windstopper material attached to the bottom of her goggles used to protect from the wind whilst enabling sufficient venting of breath.
They have now crossed 82 degrees south and have now clocked up a total distance based on a direct line of travel each day of 129.8 nautical miles. There are 60 nautical miles in each degree latitude. The team started just north of 80 degrees south. The have now therefore covered just over two degrees of the total approximate journey of 10 degrees to the South Pole at 90 degrees south. There overall distance will be greater than the straight line distance due to having to pick a route which avoids poor terrain and also to take in the re-supply locations which have to be sufficiently flat for the Twin Otter to land. The total distance reported for each day is less than they have actually travelled because it is simply worked out as the distance from the start of the day to the end of the day excluding any wiggles in their route.
05/12/06 – 8.45pm
Short call - reported all is well. They had a relaxing rest day yesterday. Today weather conditions have been good and surface not bad. They have had their biggest day yet covering 15.4 nautical miles having now increased the number of daily marches to a total of eight one hour marches. Beth is now leading the 8th shift of each day which today was fine.
Beth said that having had a rest day she now seems to have all sorts of aches and pains she had not had up until now including an irritating pain in her thigh, so overall the rest day hasn’t left her feeling as refreshed as hoped. They are all suffering from shoulder and neck pain and Correne has reported some minor frostnip on her chin.
In terms of food Beth seems to be doing ok. During the day she eats chocolate, cheese and salami meat all pre-chopped into convenient sizes. She explained that she has also got very into eating crackers covered in butter as snacks in the tent!
Denise’s foot blister seems to be improving.
They had been sending text messages to John and also Hannah yesterday and were interested to hear of recent events on
It seems Correne's PDA and Contact 3.0 software is back in business see latest updates on her website at www.correne.co.za
04/12/06 - 9.30
Beth has sent through the teams co-ordinates for the first 9 days. These can be viewed on the Map & Info page under 'Data Log'. There may be a couple of mistakes as Beth had to type each figure into her satellite phone.
03/12/06 8.30
Beth reported that they are all generally well and are now camped at 81dgrees 23mins South having covered a distance of just over 48 nautical miles over the last 4 days. So far Beth's shoulders are still her only significant problem which she thinks is related to the use of her ski poles. Denise has a nasty large blister on one foot whilst Correne is still largely without ailments although she started to get minor ankle pains during the course of yesterday before realising that it was being caused by her having been skiing much of the day with her skis on the wrong feet!
Technology has not been working well for a couple of days. They were unable to get Correne's PDA battery to charge and feared that no more despatches with photos via the Contact 3.0 program would be possible. It seems this has been fixed now or rather it has simply started working again of its own accord! although now one of the Satellite phone batteries is not charging.
Over the past few days they have been going for 7 lots of 1 hour marches each day. They have been trying to work out their navigation routine and have established a rota of Denise leading for marches 1, 4 and 7; Beth for 2 and 5; and Correne for 3 and 6. They intend to move up to 8 marches per day soon which Beth thought might mean she would end up leading the last march of the day - which she thought could be tough.
Overall conditions have been quite mixed, temperatures have been consistently low for while at around -25C with windchil. Beth has taken to taping her face with surgical tape in an attempt to prevent skin damage from the foam of her goggles which has been freezing to her face presumably because it becomes moist from perspiration or condensation. It sounds a very unattractive solution - hopefully Correne will be able to upload a picture at some point.
Visibility has been poor with close to full white-out conditions for 10miles of their journey yesterday. Visibility improved this morning but it remains very difficulty to read the surface with very flat light however fortunately the surface has been reasonably smooth going the last few days allowing them to maintain good progress.
Amusingly the night before last Beth and Denise managed to leave a small part of the tent open when they went to sleep. Denise woke up to find Beth still sleeping peacefully with a pile of snow having built up on her head!! It sounded like that provided the start to a high spirited day of amusement, despite the lack of visibility.
29/11/06 9.30pm
The team left Patriot Hills yesterday morning and covered 7 nautical miles in approx 4hrs 45mins. Last night was very windy with wind-chill down at -25C. They camped before
Today the team covered 11 nautical miles in 7 hours. Beth has been trying to reduce her use of the poles as her shoulders have been aching. They have also been trying to improve their navigation based on shadows alone so as to minimise reliance on the GPS. This involves knowing where your own shadow should line at any given time of day in order to be heading due south. They each intend to lead for the same third of the day each day so that they should each only have to familiarise themselves with the shadow position for approximately a 3hours period.
The team seem in good spirits and doing well although Denise unfortunately has a cold/flu. (Latest Pictures)
27/11/2006 10pm
The team has had 3 successful days and managed to get from the start at Hercules Inlet back to Patriot Hills where they will load up with fuel and food ready for the first full leg of their journey fully loaded. Over the past 3 days they have covered approximately 7.8 (5hrs), then 10.5 (about 6hrs) and today just 5.5 (3hrs) nautical miles. They are quite pleased with their initial pace although they have not had their full load to carry as yet. Overall they have climbed up close to 1000m from Hercules Inlet close to sea level up to Patriot Hills at just under 1000m elevation.
Beth thinks she is now getting the hang of the skiing but is still frustrated by how difficult she is finding it to get the skis on. The bindings have three pins that poke up and need to engage with three holes in the sole of the boot at the toe. If they do not engage properly then the sole will wear and awkward straps have to be used to keep the boot in the binding.
Beth had considerable concerns about the overall fit of her boots before she left as they were tight in places potential limiting circulation to her toes when worn with thick socks however she confirmed that so far they have been fine. There had been a gale the first night which gave them good practice getting the tents up but otherwise the weather has been OK thus far.
The surface conditions have been good with little in the way of sastruggi. The Twin Otter pilots managed to drop them in a location that has enable them to avoid any crevasses. The Twin Otter pilot gave them all a shock today by 'buzzing' them; which involves coming up at speed very low behind them which results in them suddenly seeing the plane low above their heads shortly before the noise hits them - it sounds like a favourite entertainment of the pilots!
Correne's skin's on her skis have proved an issue. She has not been happy with the half skins that were opted for in
They now plan to start out about 10am tomorrow on what should be a 16 day journey to their first re-supply location where they will pick up their provision (that will hopefully have been dropped by the Twin Otter) before heading on to Thiels.
Many thanks to Jane, Mike, Cara, Gavin, Alex and Melissa, Sunil and Billy Mathur for sponsoring a mile of Beth's journey, it is greatly appreciated.
25/11/06 9.30pm
At last the team have finally started their journey. The team were flown out to Hercules Inlet earlier today and were able to ski for 5 hours covering a distance of 7.8 nautical miles. The weather was good to start with but a head wind picked up for the second half slowing their progress. Their gear seems to be working well although Correne's skies are a little too rigid for her weight so that she is finding it hard to properly engage the half skins they are using with the snow and thus may be skiing inefficiently. The skins (which allow forward motion but grip as the ski is push back) are about 2ft long and attached to the centre of each ski beneath the binding. The skins use metal brackets on their leading edge to create a smooth edge and are both glued to the underside of the ski and also screwed on at regular intervals along their length.
Beth's has not had a fall yet but her technique needs to improve - she is lifting her legs too much and not using her hips effectively but for the first day is doing well. It is Beth's first try at cross country skiing as she was unable to try it out in advance with the skies only arriving shortly before she left England. Today their maximum speed was 2 nautical miles per hour on gradual up-hill climb. Tomorrow they plan to ski for 6hours and then on the third day ski back to Patriot Hills.
To start with Denise and Beth are sharing one tent and Correne is on her own in the other. The plan is to rotate so that they each spend time sleeping alone.
When Beth phoned they had just had dinner and were all in the tent preparing for bed.
The satellite connection was absolutely excellent with no delay and very clear - much better than we had expected. Hopefully the batteries will continue to work well.
24/11/06 11.15pm
Beth called again; she is still very tired but has now had some sleep. They are waiting for the Twin Otter to take them to Hercules Inlet but unfortunately the
Beth plans to spend the time waiting for their flight testing out her skies and kit options ready for the first day. They have been running through medical kit contents, testing the stove and solar panels and sorting out the tents and drying line, repair kit and generally working out how to carry everything. Beth has taken contact lenses which are held in liquid and which will spoil if they freeze and therefore she needs to keep these warm at all times. The batteries for the camera, phone, GPS and her iPod also need to be warm if they are to work. So she will have to work out how best to utilise her pockets and what happens when layers are taken off in warmer periods.
Whilst in
The organised packing of the sleds is important to the team's camp efficiency and will be vital in poor weather conditions or if they have to work in 'white-out' conditions. They think they will simply pack their sleeping mats and sleeping bags loose in the sleds as packing them away adds time and effort unnecessarily when there is little risk of damp and the fact that weight as opposed to space is the main issue.
On a previous expedition a team member with Denise had unintentionally removed all the pegs from the tent and failed to keep hold of the tent in quite strong winds with the result that they were left frantically chasing the tent with no success. Fortunately ALE came to there rescue with backup airdrop in this case but the consequences could have been severe. The team has opted for a two tent strategy and will review this at their re-supply at Thiels where they could if confident leave a tent and switch to a single tent strategy.
Hannah McKeand who made the journey with Denise previously (where the tent was lost) is also out this year trying to beat the record as fastest solo women. Link to Hannah's website. She is making good progress having managed to take an earlier flight out from
24/11/06 4am
Beth called this morning very excited to say that the team had arrived in
Beth described
The Twin Otter plane is to take the climbers to Mount Vincent today and will take Beth, Correne and Denise as well as John who is attempting the journey solo (his website is www.dontjustdream.co.uk) tomorrow - weather permitting.
Update 21-11-06
Still in
Since then we have to return to our hotels for weather updates every 2 to 4 hours and be ready to leave within 20 mins of a call. This waiting is really hard but the weather has actually got worse so I think the right decision was made yesterday. The most important thing is to arrive safely.
Today winds are 35 knots and we need them to be consistently under 20 knots with no signs of weather deterioration in order to fly.
Also on our flight are several groups heading out to climb
Thanks for all the good luck messages.
Beth
19/11/2006 9pm (
The team are on standby in
16/11/2006 5pm (
Beth, Corenne and Denise have all arrived in Punta Arenas and are buying provisions and packing the daily rations and kit. All the expedition equipment has also survived the journey to