Day 33 14/12/07
When bad days get worst.
Camp:South Pole Inn;
Date: 14/12/07
Position: S85.6801, W086.6208
Temperature: -9c
Weather: worst todate, Whiteout/ snowing with deep snow., 6th day with no contras. it’s really getting to us.
Distance today: 19.6km of back breaking effort. 8 hours skiing.
Distance to Pole: 475km
Today was really frustrating, it was snowing all day and the visibility was the worst yet. Today was such hard going, with the sleds sinking into the soft snow and no visibility that we changed our strategy due to the pressure on our bodies. Instead of each of us navigating for an hour and ten minutes we switched it to 35 minutes. Our pace is down to a funeral march and pulling the sleds is like pulling a 100kg person dead weight, for 8 hours a day. Your legs buckling under the strain of moving your home forward towards the pole.
Back at base camp Patriot Hills, Victoria reports, they are in full blown blizzard conditions, she also gave us a forecast for the next few days.
We are under cover of a vast cloud sheet that extends as far as South 87 40. 000 all the way back to our starting point. So we won’t expect much change for the next few days.
Most of the other teams have not moved today. So all in all we are doing very well considering the miserable conditions we are putting up with.
News from Vinson climbers, is that high winds and storm have destroyed some tents. But all are same and holding.
So for now, good night, we are really very tired. Need rest for pulling tomorrow. Lets hope conditions improve.
Tonight’s camps site; South Pole Inn.
To many a good night of chat, music, lectures and stories of Antarctic around the fire and pints of Guinness in Tom Creans pub. I’m here in my tent in the most remote place on earth, dreaming of a pint and seeing my friends there. To Eileen and family and a big hi to Marie Kennedy. Well done in making an UN-sung hero, recognized. Tom Crean.
