Check Point Two

[Note from Chris: Apologies for the delay, I did not receive the message until today]

Sitting in Check point two suffering slightly from cabin fever. We were determined to make the CP the night we did in order to make god our advantage, and ensure an extra nights rest. We detected the weather deteriorating as we got closer, so all the more reason. It was exhausting, particularly the last two days, as conditions conspired against us.
Anyway, having achieved our aim, we suffer the penalty of waiting for everyone else. Much as we would like to be active, and moreover get on with repair and maintenance, the wind prohibits movement and confines us to the tent. It is bitter, one has to walk backwards to go forwards in order not to risk ones face. The senior member of the support staff says he has not experienced worse weather, ice conditions and temperatures in his thirteen years of coming here. At one point at the last checkpoint, some equipment measured -62 degrees! Put that in your pipe Al Gore!
The other thing that is harsh is the ice conditions. We have hit severe rubble several times, and our last nine miles in took seven and a half hours of extreme effort.
We had a good leg on the whole and in some patches up the coast, hit areas of flat ice, or ‘M6’ as we called it, where we could take our skis off and walk, hardly feeling the tug of our pulks behind. We saw some spectacular ice formations and scenery and plenty of wildlife evidence….foxes, some huge wolf pad marks and the ever present Polar Bears. We have managed to avoid contact so far with P Bear, so far, maybe they are nesting, or back in the zoo!
One moment of drama was when we encountered soft ice at the North side of the appropriately named Water Sound. John went in to his knee, giving us a real shock. The only way was forward through more slush, and IW didn’t mind admitting to ‘bricking it’ leading on to safer ice. The going was arduous. Rubble is compacted loose ice, lumps from the size of a shoe, to the size of a car….or sometimes a house. It is a nightmare negotiating ones way through it, over it, round it. You can take your skis off but you go in to your thigh, leave them on and it is like going over an assault course…..well..in skis, dragging a 100lb plus pulk! We have taken to climbing high bits to get a view forward but it is exhausting. It varies in intensity, but even the light stuff requires concentration and a good eye, to make the best headway without losing ones bearing. DS has proved to have such an eye, which is good news as IW, who was doing most of the navigation and leading through the ice, sunburnt his retinas - snow blindness - from looking at the snow too much. Another reason to make good the dash to CP2.
Bad news…we want to get on with it! We also have quite a bit of kit to repair…. We broke a tent pole, our pulks are like cheese graters, pulling in pounds of snow on top of what we have to carry, our ski bindings are all smashed to bits and we are improvising with bungees! Thomas Edison, Watt, Brunel….where is Mr Bungee in the archive? Bungees are our answer to everything!
So, the good news…We arrived first again, building on our lead. We are all in good physical shape, bar some numb fingers and toes and Iain’s eyes, and the odd minor blister. We have had some rest and are eager to pick up from where we left off. Conditions ahead do not look great, and we are waiting for the ‘good weather’ to arrive, but we are confident as we have broken the back of the race now. The conditions are holding some teams up quite a bit, so we are slightly concerned that the race timetable may slip, or there may be some rerouting, but you will see news of that on the race website.
So, all in good shape, missing everyone and looking forward to tea and toast in blighty!