A big thank you to all our friends and family that have allowed us to get to this point ! It is truly incredible being up here in Resolute Bay and feeling some idea of what true Polar Explorers experience in their endeavours. As Iain mentioned in the last blog earlier today one silly mistake creates a tidal wave of problems which all end up in one being Cold or dehydrated or both and the week we have been here preparing has allowed us time to try and overcome those difficulties and work on solutions.
On a personal note I wanted to thank Lara ,Alec, My Parents and my Sisters for there good wishes on my Birthday (today) which I was handed earlier today ! Thanks all your messages brought a tear to my eye , luckily I was inside otherwise they might have frozen to my face. Thanks all I love you and miss you .
We have calculated we can make approx 2.2 nautical miles across good ice and snow without becoming sweaty messes at the end of the day .(There are aprox 1.1 normal miles in a nautical mile).However broken ice/ rubble fields or hillsides etc do slow us down .First leg (65 nautical miles) should prove a good testing ground to see where we stand against other teams etc. On the move we are among the faster teams we still need to get faster at creating camp and breaking camp if we are to save valuable time ,but as everyone noted in our de-brief following 2 day mini expedition, speed in packing up can lead to errors . Safety remains the watch word and above everything else we will remain safe.
A huge thanks personally from me to Lara, Jane and Kate and all our collective families for letting us try to do this . You support and encouragement really are the difference . Having two great friends to do this with could make all the difference in the weeks ahead. Wish us luck and keep the mesages of support coming so we can catch up on them in checkpoints .
Race starts at approx 2PM from Resolute tomorrow . Wish us luck !!
The birthday boy.
Sunday, 5 April 2009
one day to go
We have returned to the South Camp Inn after two nights out in weather 'as cold as we have it'. We know it was below -40 as that was all the readings would go down to, though one chap did hear -45 was the figure. Just about everyone had 'moments'. By this I mean experiences, short or long which rammed home what a lethal environemnt we are in. On the morning of the 3rd, it was so cold only IW could move his hands to get the tent back down. Things one takes for granted in the real world (!!) like doing up a zip, putting gloves on, changing clothes all have their issues and need to be thought through. Even equipment is fallible despite being built for the conditions. We have had issues with our MSR stoves, and simultaneously last night, our goggles fell apart as the temperature went below what the glue could bear. Vitals these, it makes one aware of how thin the line can be.
Food is the saviour. We have dehydrated rations which in the morning and at night we can rehydrate with boiled water. During the day, 'day bags'. these are ziplock bags full of nuts, cheese, chocolate, salami...why has no-one claimed that recipe?....anyway, we graze on this as we stop skiing every 75 mins or so. It is a shock though as the food must defrost in the mouth and it feels a little like sticking a hand full of cold pebbles in! Thank gawd I've still got me own teeth!
Anyway, a bitter night, Ice on hats, sleeping bags, it even snows in the tents as our breath turns to ice! Gloves go hard with icelock.
Depite this morale is high. We knit as a team and mutual understanding and the timesaving teamwork and procedures are coming through. We are feeling strong, but realistic. This is no environment to make the least mistake.
One thing that is becoming apparent is that it is sometimes simply too cold for cameras to work. Video in particular. Having come 'tooled up' with video, Flip, and conventional cameras, it is difficult to warm them and keep them warm, as well as the batteries. We will try to get photos on here via the USB stick and Chris the IT man, but there are updates via:
http://polarrace.com/2009/news
Special mention has to be made of the Pacerpoles we are using. They are great, but the overmit that was almost chucked in as an after thought is invaluable. It means that we do not have to resort to the huge pillow case gloves when skiing. The do seem to allow us less effort, though the bright orange wee we are producing at the end of te day, shows we are exerting ourselves to dehydration. water intake will be key.
This all sounds alarming, but we are more than coping and spirits are good. No one should worry, we are careful and the only Polar Bear sightings have been after they saw the taxidermist.
The race starts tomorrow.
Wish us all Luck!! It's John's Birthday today, his second 21st!! Something tells me we won't be knocking a few back though!
Food is the saviour. We have dehydrated rations which in the morning and at night we can rehydrate with boiled water. During the day, 'day bags'. these are ziplock bags full of nuts, cheese, chocolate, salami...why has no-one claimed that recipe?....anyway, we graze on this as we stop skiing every 75 mins or so. It is a shock though as the food must defrost in the mouth and it feels a little like sticking a hand full of cold pebbles in! Thank gawd I've still got me own teeth!
Anyway, a bitter night, Ice on hats, sleeping bags, it even snows in the tents as our breath turns to ice! Gloves go hard with icelock.
Depite this morale is high. We knit as a team and mutual understanding and the timesaving teamwork and procedures are coming through. We are feeling strong, but realistic. This is no environment to make the least mistake.
One thing that is becoming apparent is that it is sometimes simply too cold for cameras to work. Video in particular. Having come 'tooled up' with video, Flip, and conventional cameras, it is difficult to warm them and keep them warm, as well as the batteries. We will try to get photos on here via the USB stick and Chris the IT man, but there are updates via:
http://polarrace.com/2009/news
Special mention has to be made of the Pacerpoles we are using. They are great, but the overmit that was almost chucked in as an after thought is invaluable. It means that we do not have to resort to the huge pillow case gloves when skiing. The do seem to allow us less effort, though the bright orange wee we are producing at the end of te day, shows we are exerting ourselves to dehydration. water intake will be key.
This all sounds alarming, but we are more than coping and spirits are good. No one should worry, we are careful and the only Polar Bear sightings have been after they saw the taxidermist.
The race starts tomorrow.
Wish us all Luck!! It's John's Birthday today, his second 21st!! Something tells me we won't be knocking a few back though!
Home from Home
Home from home. This is how we are living at the moment. Yes, it is as cold as it looks, but we are, sort of, getting used to it.
Thursday, 2 April 2009
Furious Activity!
The last few days have seen more preparation and training. Tent work, skiiing, skiing with pulks, cooking, cooker maintenance. Packing, re- packing, re-repacking, and then more. Food has been issued, so a huge exercise in terms of breaking it down into food per race leg, then per day and guess what packing and repacking into drop off bags. The problem with repacking so many times is that one forgets what one packed where, when….so starts repacking again!
The bitter weather last night, -36 degrees inside the tent, gave way to the most amazing blue skies and the longest visibility we have yet had. Resolute Bay is framed by a rocky ridge which looms over the village. To the South we can see out to the ridges where the sea ice meets the bay. Despite all the snow and ice, the atmosphere is incredibly dry and sucks the moisture from ones breath. Snow creaks underfoot, but loudly, accentuated by the general silence.
We are all very tired. Activity is pretty well non stop, but any slower moments are spent with mind spinning, wondering whether all is in order, attempting to finesse gear, packing (!) etc., to the extent that we are more worried about over engineering.
The bitter weather last night, -36 degrees inside the tent, gave way to the most amazing blue skies and the longest visibility we have yet had. Resolute Bay is framed by a rocky ridge which looms over the village. To the South we can see out to the ridges where the sea ice meets the bay. Despite all the snow and ice, the atmosphere is incredibly dry and sucks the moisture from ones breath. Snow creaks underfoot, but loudly, accentuated by the general silence.
We are all very tired. Activity is pretty well non stop, but any slower moments are spent with mind spinning, wondering whether all is in order, attempting to finesse gear, packing (!) etc., to the extent that we are more worried about over engineering.
Tuesday, 31 March 2009
Arrived!
Two long days saw us head in and out of Ottawa. Frenetic activity doing last minute repacking, organising, furious shopping at the supermarket....vaseline, wipes (!) extra grub, hot pads...actually very stressful as we don't know what we don't know!
Anyway some quick three to a room kip. IW won the spoof so had a double bed to himself, and rubbed it in further by a full repetoire of farmyard animal noises through the night.
An early start saw us on a 737 to Iqaluit, then transfer to a smaller plane to Hall Beach, which was unscheduled as the weather was too poor in Nansevik. (?) Then finally to Resolute. The planes and buildings get smaller as we get further North and the temperature drops. Resolute is extremely desolate, temperature about -28 degs including windchill.
A late night was spent with supper in the South Camp Inn, again, organising and reorganising kit. This time David won the Animal impersonations. From now we are out in the tents.
About to get bindings sorted for the skis. All quite intense,the chat very focussed on matters in hand!!
Anyway some quick three to a room kip. IW won the spoof so had a double bed to himself, and rubbed it in further by a full repetoire of farmyard animal noises through the night.
An early start saw us on a 737 to Iqaluit, then transfer to a smaller plane to Hall Beach, which was unscheduled as the weather was too poor in Nansevik. (?) Then finally to Resolute. The planes and buildings get smaller as we get further North and the temperature drops. Resolute is extremely desolate, temperature about -28 degs including windchill.
A late night was spent with supper in the South Camp Inn, again, organising and reorganising kit. This time David won the Animal impersonations. From now we are out in the tents.
About to get bindings sorted for the skis. All quite intense,the chat very focussed on matters in hand!!
Monday, 23 March 2009
Follow the race - sign up for daily updates
With less than a week before the team leave for Ottawa and then Resolute (march 29th) there is now the opportunity through the organizers website to sign up for daily race updates so you can track progress / send messages of support etc . The webpage where you only need to fill in your e-mail address is http://polarrace.com/2009/contact/subscribe
Wish us luck
Wish us luck
Wednesday, 11 March 2009
Kit's coming on....
Hey ho, the kit is taking shape! Nipped down to Brocket on a chilly morn to get some photos for the golf mag....This is the result! No not David Bailey, some poor victim who was dragged from the clubhouse for five minutes..must have wondered what was going on...maybe he thought he was being kidnapped by a Super Hero. Yeh right!!
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