A real battle
Published on 23.03.2007 - Mars North Pole Solo
Even with the 63 km she has already accomplished since her departure, Rosie Stancer evidently finds herself in another chaotic ice zone.
She must fight each day, not only against the dangerous leads she sometimes has a hard time passing, but also against the compression zones which make her crossing difficult.
On March 19, her webmaster wrote: "Crossing the first lead of the day, the ice beneath Rosie's feet began to give way and she felt one boot slide into the water. Moving with lightning speed, Rosie was able to scuttle across the disintegrating ice to safety, leaving her with nothing worse than wet toes. On the second lead of the day, Rosie skied east until she found a small island of ice about five foot by six foot floating in the middle. Rosie was able to use the island as a bridge to get her first sledge across, but as she went back for the second the island began to move with the current, further and further away from the edge.
"Bracing herself for it all to go horribly wrong, Rosie lengthened her trace (the rope she uses to pull her sledge) to its fullest extent and leapt across the widening gap. She said she must have flown for a second, because she made it over with precious little to spare. By the time she hit the third lead of the day, Rosie was an old hand at the action stunts and managed to get across without having a dunking, though the sledges both got wet bottoms."
That said, the spirit of the British woman is still high as she approaches the 84th degree.
