First Full Day Out

After an 8 AM wake up call, the team broke camp at 11, skied for four hours and covered just under five miles during that time. They settled into a rhythm of skiing for just over an hour, taking a five to ten minute rest and then repeating. As Michel mentions in the audio update, the team reached 89 degrees, 3.883 minutes south. Just over 56 nautical miles separates them from the Pole.

A few team members dealt with minor headaches and nausea last night and throughout today. These symptoms will diminish as the team acclimatizes to Antarctic Plateau's 10,000 ft elevation. 

The team reports that the wind picked up around 2 AM this morning, and blew a sustained 10 kt out of the northeast (hitting them on the backside of their left shoulders) throughout the day. It's also a few degrees colder today. 

After the first full day of skiing, the team enjoyed a special dinner of hamburgers and french fries! That sure beats the standard freeze dried fare. Eating so luxuriously every night would hugely increase each team member's sled weight, but it's such a comfort to have a "home cooked" meal on expedition. Captain Keith says he has one more special meal planned for the expedition.

Today is Diego's 11th wedding anniversary. Happy anniversary to you and your wonderful wife, Diego!

Also, Sasha and Alexey will be celebrating Russian Orthodox Christmas tomorrow by putting in a good six miles or more on the trail. Merry Christmas, fellas!

That's it for today. Thanks for following, and check back tomorrow for more notes from the field.

First Night Out

The team is spending their first night out roughly 60 nautical miles from the South Pole. As anticipated they spent morning skiing and performing a "dress rehearsal" of expedition life. After a quick dinner at Union Glacier they departed for their expedition embarkation point.

They skied a short distance after unloading the aircraft, and pitched their camp of five three-man tents. The conditions are actually quite comfortable at the moment. Keith called in the dispatch without wearing gloves, and several team members have stripped down to their midlayers while lounging in the tents. The actual temperature is -13 Fahrenheit / -25 Celsius, but, it feels much warmer inside the tents because of the dry climate and intense solar radiation.

The very, very flat Antarctic Plateau (photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)

Some team members may have a little trouble getting to sleep tonight because of today's elevation gain. They slept at 3,000 ft last night, but will sleep tonight on the 9,800 ft Antarctic Plateau. This nearly two mile high, exceedingly flat plateau has a diameter of roughly 620 miles and surrounds the South Pole.

So while the team will encounter effectively zero elevation change during the expedition, they will have to adjust to the cold air's sparse oxygen density. Actually, Antarctic travelers report that the cold, dry air intensifies the physical effects of the altitude. So our team may feel as though they living well above 10,000 ft. 

Union Glacier Ice Camp

The PolarExplorers Last Degree team is settling down for the night in Antarctica!

Leaving "The Land of Fire" behind

Dale, Diego and Heather ready to board the Ilyushin in Punta Arenas

The Ilyushin in Punta Arenas

They received a call at 8 AM instructing them to stand by for further information, and at 9:30 they received the "green light call". They left South America behind at noon, and touched down in Antarctica 5 PM. After taxiing from the runway to Union Glacier Base Camp they enjoyed a meal that they didn't have to cook themselves--not too many of those in the week to come.

Antarctica's busiest airport

One of the comfortably heated Union Glacier tents

Union Glacier is situated about 600 miles from the South Pole along the Ellsworth Mountains, a 224 mile long range that contains Antarctica's highest peak (Vinson Massif, 16,050 feet / 4,892 meters). Union Glacier itself is 3,000 feet above sea level.

The Ellsworth Mountains of Western Antarctica (photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)

When Keith called in to the PolarExplorers Headquarters about 90 minutes ago, the team was waiting for their gear transfer, and everyone was ecstatic to be so near the bottom of the globe.

The team plans to have a "dry run" of expedition life tomorrow morning. After breakfast they will practice pitching camp as a team (they hope for some gusty wind to really put their teamwork to the test; there is currently only a slight breeze flapping the tent fabric at Union Glacier) and stretch their legs with a short ski. They hope to catch a flight to their skiing embarkation point after a Union Glacier dinner so they can get some shut eye right after pitching their first camp.

A well stocked Antarctic kitchen

The past day and a half in Chile was a whirlwind of meetings and logistics. The chillier, snowier setting has drawn the mental curtain on what is sure to be an incredible adventure!

One final non expedition related note, PolarExplorers is joining Keith and John, the team's Oregon alumni,  in celebration of their alma mater's 35-17 Fiesta Bowl victory over Kansas State last night. Go Ducks!

Thanks so much for following, and check back tomorrow for more notes from the field.


 

Looking Forward to an Early Wake Up Call

The team spent their first full day together taking care of some of the thrilling logistical matters that they had so eagerly awaited for months on end...just kidding. The real fun will begin soon enough though!

Some of the team arrived late yesterday evening, and would have appreciated a late start. But all 14 of the Last Degree squad attended their two-hour pre-flight briefing at 9 this morning. They spent the afternoon weighing their gear at the airport, and then loading it onto the aircraft that will take them to Antarctica tomorrow.

Diego, Michel, Dale and Heather weighing in

Alexey, Niall and Sasha weighing in

Since the full team didn't have a chance to sit down together yesterday, they had meeting this evening to get to know one another, swap stories and make dinner plans. No doubt that some of them will partake in a drink or two at the famous Shackleton Bar tonight.

But they won't stay out too late, because they expect a call tomorrow morning (Keith Heger, one of the guides, predicts 6:30 AM) from the charter air providers. The phone conversation will go something like this:

"The plane leaves in an hour, with or without you."

Captain Keith and Simon weighing in

So tonight rucksacks will be packed, and backup alarms set. Tomorrow they will board a flight in civilization and deboard on the world's wildest continent!

Thanks for following. Check back tomorrow for more notes from the field.

The Team Assembled

The PolarExplorers South Pole Last Degree Team assembled in Punta Arenas, Chile today. Some arrived early. Others arrived only a couple hours ago.

Of course the expedition doesn't really begin until they begin skiing towards the Pole, but tomorrow is still an important day of pre-flight briefings and gear checks.

Be sure to check out the team bios on the PolarExplorers website, and check back tomorrow for photos and the first audio update. Thanks for following!

Welcome to the expedition!

Welcome to the PolarExplorers 2013 South Pole Ski Expedition Blog. With only a few weeks to go until the start of the expedition all team members are packing their kit, training and getting ready for this incredible journey. The expedition blog will officially start on January 2, 2013 as the team gathers in Punta Arenas, Chile. We will be posting daily reports with the team's current location as well as an audio dispatch from Antarctica. We encourage you to sign up for automatic email alerts (in left panel).

Happy Holidays! And check back again on January 2, 2013!