A Daily Struggle!
Published on 28.11.2008 - Expedition Earth
The difficulties continue and luck is on a leave of absence. Todd Carmichael has had to walk instead of ski, but he's certainly not short of courage.
20 November: the problem of his footwear continued. The binding of the second boot gave up the ghost and Todd decided to walk.
21 and 22 November: he succeeded in breaking some records, even though the distance covered (14 nautical miles or 26 km) was less than planned.
23 November: Todd found a solution for his footwear. At least, he thought so. Once the skis were fitted, he realised that this makeshift repair would not hold for the 480 nautical miles (889 km) that he still had to cover. So he decided to ski only when the conditions made walking impossible. It was therefore on foot that he broke a new record of 15.4 nautical miles, that is to say 28.5 km, and crossed the 82nd degree South.
24 November: despite the wind, Todd walked for nine hours and a half. He had to compensate for the slowness of the walk by making a greater effort. This effort was well rewarded, with a new record: 16 nautical miles (29.6 km)! This day was dedicated to Dr. Biruté Mary Galdikas, Chair of the "International Orangutan Foundation", a foundation that Todd has supported for years and which fights for the safeguard of the orangutans in the Equatorial forests.
25 November: Todd repeated his feat of the previous day but felt discouraged: "Horrible and interminable sastrugis*!" he declared.
26 November: records follow one another. Benefitting from terrain with fewer sastrugis, Todd was able to cover 18.5 nautical miles (34,2 km) during this 15th day of walking. Suddenly, morale is set fair once again.
*These are little snowdrifts, formed by the wind and hardened by the cold. They make it hard for explorers to advance.
