First resupply
Published on 31.03.2007 - North Pole Quest
The first resupply
© International Polar Foundation
Just like Rosie Stancer, who's a few miles behind them, the North Pole Quest trio have witnessed the elements going crazy.
In twenty years of polar expeditions, famous explorer Richard Weber had never seen anything like it. "The severe weather conditions and length of the storm had been the worst he had ever experienced", he's written on the expedition's website. "He also thought that such an intense storm, of such magnitude, is rare for this region".
One of the major problems caused by such a storm is the overall break-up of the pack ice; the old slabs of ice are disrupted and new ones are created, so the chaos is even more alarming than ever. Moreover, this time, as Rosie Stancer's HQ has written, the drift had been negative for the two full days of this blizzard and had cost the expedition more than 22 miles.
Fortunately, after those two days, the good weather returned. Which enabled the North Pole Quest expedition to be supplied for the first time. The Twin Otter arrived over the area on Monday, March 26th at 5pm. The landing was, apparently, one of the most hazardous.
Here's a summary written by Adrian after three weeks of travel. He captures so accurately the conditions endured by the three men: "The last 3 weeks have been more demanding then I could ever imagine. The re-supply plane that careered totally out of control, temperatures down to -60ºC, which needs to be felt to be believed! Colder and wetter I have ever been, frost bite to my nose and frost nip to my hands, ice moving under the tent, open water to swim across and storms and winds, so severe than any of us has ever experienced. In short, absolutely brutal and, with long hard days pulling sleds 10 hours a day, physically and mentally demoralising."
