The nights are short and the days too long
Published on 06.01.2009 - Expedicion Caixanova 2008
The going has been difficult for Chus Lago since she reached the polar plateau. Plus persistently bad weather...
"The South Pole is so near, yet so far," she wrote. At the time of writing that sentence, Chus was still 94.35 kilometres from the South Pole and had already covered 1 035 kilometres. But the final assault that the Spaniard has embarked on is turning out to be more difficult than she bargained for. Certainly Chus is making progress, and the fact that she is skiing (or walking) between 12 and 15 hours a day proves that she is fighting fit and her determination to reach her goal is as clear as ever.
But for all that, the adventurer is finding it tough going. She can't remember when she last saw the sun, because the sky is filled with clouds all the time. She is also having to ski on soft snow, which in one of her updates she called "snow soup", illustrating just how hard it is to ski under those conditions... Quite often when she gets up in the morning, she has to contend with virtual white-out conditions as soon as she sets out for the day. Which means she is unable to make out any of the bumps in the ice as she skis along.
During their conversation on New Year's Day, Chus made the following request of her sister (who runs her HQ): "Just tell me that the weather will improve with the new year. And tell me that not all of the great plateau will be like the snow soup I have at the moment..."
