Good progress for North Pole Quest
Published on 23.03.2007 - North Pole Quest
For several days now, the North Pole Quest team has been fighting winds and crossing, the best way they can, open leads. However, the men have been advancing at a good pace.
Since last Monday on latitude 84°39', the men from North Pole Quest have been trying to escape the awful ice compression zone that spreads several kilometres beyond Ward Hunt. This, however, does not mean they are out of trouble. The terrain is, of course, more negotiable and, probably also, a little less chaotic. However, for several days now, Richard, Adrian and Iain have been enduring a terrible blizzard which has swooped over the area. Sunday night, for example, the winds were so strong that the men were worried at one point their tents might fly away or even tear in these gusts of wind.
Moreover, they must cross their first open leads. During the expedition's first few days, they did not come across many leads but, for about a week now, they have been confronted with about ten a day.
However, what is encouraging for them is that, despite all these difficulties, the trio is progressing well: over 13 days of trekking, they have covered 166.5 km, averaging 12.8 km per day. Also, temperatures have become milder over the past few days: from -45°C, they have risen to -30°C.
