Live from the ice pack (4)

The sledge is prepared for using the traction sails (Powerkite). Now that the wind is good, they can make way for some real sliding.

The sledge is prepared for using the traction sails (Powerkite). Now that the wind is good, they can make way for some real sliding.

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  • After four hours of effort, we are out of the chaos: it's 18.30 (GMT+2), we'll be pitching our tent in half an hour under the glorious sunshine which has returned for the past hour and half.
  • When you're on foot and have to forge a path between the blocks, the snow often reaches your thighs.
  • This is what happens when you have to pull the sledge over this type of terrain and that you're on your feet, without skis.
  • After a morning spent in complete fog, the sun timidly returns and lets us know that we will be spending the rest of the day in total chaos. But it's nice of it to let us know...
  • Yes, there are still two of us and our spirits are high! Each day is a hard-won battle, though. I don't know if sportsmen realise the intensity of the effort that we've had to deploy here for the past 86 days, with no rest and without taking a single show
  • The chief at the 14.00 break. With our little schoolboy box holding chocolates and cheese, we get more than 2,500 calories a day. But with what we are spending each day, it's not too much. We therefore have to eat a little at a time, even though we'd like
  • Dixie is aggressive today. But we don't have a choice. These days, the Arctic has really been showing us that we'll not be crossing easily. We'll have to struggle right to the bitter end, there is no doubt about it.
  • Arnaud Tortel and Didier Goetghebuer, two of A. Hubert's old friends, set off on May 29th from Quaanaaq, a village located on the West coast of Greenland.
  • They were accompanied by two Inuit guides and huskies accompanying them up the glacier.
  • Not many polar expeditions still use huskies these days.
  • The Inuit guide accompanying them to the top of the glacier that gives access to Greenland's polar icecap is feeding the dogs.
  • On the way, you hunt. And, from time to time, as it is the case here, you can be lucky enough to bring back a seal, excellent food for the Inuits.
  • When the Inuits kill a seal, they usually dissect it on the spot. This is a question of both freshness and weight.
  • Two days after the departure and once on top of the glacier, the Inuit guides return to Quaanaaq. Arnaud and Didier continue on their own.
  • There are also stretches of open water in Greenland. During the first days of this trek, Arnaud and Didier are making slow progress.
  • Zero degrees on the icecap! It's too hot for Arnaud, who decides to continue in shorts!
  • The sledge is prepared for using the traction sails (Powerkite). Now that the wind is good, they can make way for some real sliding.
  • Before getting the wind in your sails and thinking about speed, it's a good idea to spend a while adjusting your sails.
  • Traction sails have become a traditional means of progress for most polar expeditions.
  • Before putting the sledges into the catamaran, Arnaud probably spared a thought for Ramon Larramendi and his famous trans-Antarctic expedition of 2005-06 (Traversia Blanca).
  • On May 19th, after being told to do a U-turn on account of the expedition's change of route, Tortel and Goetghebuer were able to progress 42.5 miles in a single day.

Focus on

Expedition website

The Coldest Journey (Sir Ranulph Fiennes & Team)

Antarctic 2012-2013 - ongoing

25.10.2012

Sir Ranulph Fiennes is back in the Antarctic for a world first. He will lead a team of explorers to conquer…

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