First set of fresh supplies
Published on 29.03.2009 - Peary Centennial North Pole Expedition
Although the terrain continues to be terrible, the three men have received fresh supplies for the first time. Plus the ice drift carried them almost two kilometres on the north in a single night. Lucky...
No major developments since our last update, apart from the fact the team has successfully been resupplied for the first time. Unlike the other trio out on the ice a long way from their position (Hadow, Daniels and Hartley from the Catlin Arctic Survey), Dupré's men had no difficulty finding a sufficiently long and flat stretch for Ken Borek's Twin Otter to land on. The operation took just a day to complete and by the next day, the twin-engined plane was landing alongside their tents and bringing their first fresh supplies since setting out.
For the past few days, progress has settled into something of a routine for the three men. For one thing, the terrain continues to be a succession of flat sections of ice that are easy to ski on, followed by depressions that sometimes take hours to negotiate. But it appears that at least the direction the pack-ice is drifting in is in their favour at the moment. On Wednesday 25th March, Dupré reported that during the night, they had drifted northwards by 0.75 nautical miles, or 1.4 km.
As everything is going well for the men in terms of progress and morale, they have decided to increase their daily hours on the move to nine instead of eight. On 27th March, they passed 85 degrees North.
Their progress table:
- March 04, D 01, Cape Discovery, N83.01.36 / W77.32.04, 2.3 NM, -48°C
- March 05, D 02, N 83° 05' 02'' / W 77° 33' 11'', 5 hours walk, 3.7 NM, -42°C
- March 06, D 03, N 83° 06' 37'' / W 77° 36' 08'', 4,75 hours walk, 1.3 NM, -43°C
- March 07, D 04, N 83° 08' 58'' / W 77° 35' 19'', 4,5 hours walk, 2.2 NM, -45°C
- March 08, D 05, rest day
- March 09, D 06, N 83°12' 52'' / W 77° 36' 33'', 6 hours walk, 4 NM, -37°C
- March 10, D 07, N 83°17' 04'' / W 77° 34' 16'', 6,5 hours walk, 4,1 NM, -39°C
- March 11, D 08, N 83°22' 29'' / W 77° 33' 20'', 6,5 hours walk, 5.4 NM, -28°C
- March 12, D 09, N 83°27' 56'' / W 77° 33' 15'', 6,5 hours walk, 5.5 NM, -32°C
- March 13, D 10, N 83°32' 31'' / W 77° 31' 45'', -33°C
- March 14, D 11, 83.6288 N / W 77.5855, -36°C
- March 15, D 12, N 83°43' 28'' / W 77° 40' 18'', 7 hours walk, 5.9 NM,
- March 16, D 13, N 83°49' 52'' / W 77° 53' 16'', 7,15 hours walk, 6.4 NM,
- March 17, D 14, N 83°57' 07'' / W 77° 54' 42'', 7,25 hours walk, 7.25 NM.
- March 18, D 15, N 84° 03' 30" / W 78° 08' 05", 7 hours walk, 6.4 NM
- March 19, D 16, N 84° 10' 30" / W 78° 02' 18", 8 hours walk, 7 NM
- March 20, D 17, N 84° 18' 25" / W 78° 12' 16", 8 hours walk, 7.9 NM
- March 21, D 18, N 84° 27' 40" / W 78° 22', 8,5 hours walk, 9.25 NM
- March 22, D 19, N 84° 34' 13" / W 78° 18' 11", 7 hours walk, 6.9 NM
- March 23, D 20, N 84° 41' 26" / W 78° 23' 28", 6,5 hours walk, 7.4 NM
- March 24, D 21, rest day, thye are waiting for the firsst resupply
- March 25, D 22, N 84° 47' 04" / W 78° 25' 02", 6 hours walk, 4.5 NM
- March 26, D 23, N 84° 34' 58" / W 78° 24' 33", 8.1 NM
- March 27, D 24, N 85° 04' 58" / W 78° 24' 23", 10 NM
- March 28, D 25, N 85° 14' 25" / W 78° 39' 28", 9 hours walk, 9.7 NM
