You may recall Lewis Pugh and his laughable “expedition” in Kayaks last summer to plant flags of nations on the ice. I came a little more respect for this group, since at least they are attempting some science. But given the media coverage and the problems they face in getting any meaningful data, I have my doubts about this project as well. – Anthony
“Occasionally it’s disheartening too when you’ve slogged for a day and then wake up the next morning having drifted back to where you started.” – Pen Hadow
A team of polar explorers has travelled to the Arctic in a bid to discover how quickly the sea-ice is melting and how long it might take for the ocean to become ice-free in summers.
Pen Hadow, Ann Daniels and Martin Hartley will be using a mobile radar unit to record an accurate measurement of ice thickness as they trek to the North Pole.
The trio will be sending in regular diary entries, videos and photographs to BBC News throughout their expedition.
The Catlin Arctic Survey team started its gruelling trek on 28 February.
From Pen Hadow’s online journal: Conditions have been hard.
We have been battered by wind, bitten by frost and bruised from falls on the ice.
Occasionally it’s disheartening too when you’ve slogged for a day and then wake up the next morning having drifted back to where you started.
The Arctic sea ice is constantly moving, breaking open and reforming into different shapes – which means we can end up moving several kilometres in any direction while we are asleep in our tents.
The wind chill today will slice us up – it’s taking the temperature down to below -50C, so we have decided to take a day’s rest to recharge our batteries and soothe the aches and pains.
We are resigned to several weeks of daily discomfort and general misery, safe in the knowledge that conditions, our progress and general well-being will improve over the coming months.
See a video and audio report from Hadow at the BBC website here
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George E. Smith (15:05:16) :
I would think that by now they would be well beyond where any self respecting polar bear would travel; and if they ran into one; it would probably prefer plain blubber to very lean grey matter.
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In that regard, several posters have already suggested that they should have taken Al Gore with them.
adoucette (05:00:43), it is definitely not fun to deal with at that temperature, let alone in close quarters. Women don’t normally *go* on trips like this because of our additional complications… Plus, if you want to attract a bear, the scent of a woman “in heat” carries a long distance(!). Anyway, all that said, it isn’t really that hard to do what needs to be done as long as you’ve got easy-to-open clothing and a coffee can. The normal plastic lid will shatter at that temp so it’s better to have a round of canvas with a heavy tie that is easy to undo when wearing gloves. The stuff freezes quickly so odor isn’t an issue. Digits tend to freeze more quickly than large fatty bits, so it’s more just a hassle than anything else. As for disposal, one would hope they are hauling everything out.
If you ever want to chum for bear, use dirty diapers.
Thanks Sylvia.
For 300 person days on the ice that seems like a LOT of Coffee cans though.
As far as the “easy to open” clothing, that seems to run counter to what I would expect from clothing designed to keep you warm in -40C.
Then again, I tend to avoid any -C temps.
Arthur
B Kerr (01:52:23) :
What are going to do with all the re-supplied?
http://www.catlinarcticsurvey.com/First_Resupply
The image on this page shows a twin otter and as the article would imply the re-supplies. Do I see correctly, 33 or 35 drums?
Are they going to pull all this behind them along with the radar?
Or is it a library image of an Otter being refuelled and has nothing to do with the re-supplying?
In order to resupply from Resolute they had to have an intermediate refuelling point (in fact it was conditions at the refuelling point that caused the delay), the refuelling point on the ice had been previously supplied with fuel. I assume the shot on the site is from that base.
adoucette (07:04:11) :
Thanks Sylvia.
For 300 person days on the ice that seems like a LOT of Coffee cans though.
As far as the “easy to open” clothing, that seems to run counter to what I would expect from clothing designed to keep you warm in -40C.
Those of us who’ve piloted small planes cross-country have encountered similar problems, a higher tech. alternative to coffee cans exists:
http://www.sportys.com/acb/showdetl.cfm?&Product_ID=297&DID=19
Another pointless experiment goes awry
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7959570.stm
They apparently had a few good days for travel. There up to 69 km covered. leaving 886 to go. True, it took them 23 days to cover the 69km, meaning they are averaging 3 km per day. That means they should which the North Pole in 296 days roughly. That translates to sometime in late January of next year. I hope they’ve got enough sponsors to provide supplies till then.
More ideological polar expeditions:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7962311.stm
Team leader Felicity Aston, 31, a meteorologist from Kent, UK, has travelled all over the world to select seven other members of the expedition.
Ms Aston chose women from India, Cyprus, Ghana, Singapore, Brunei, New Zealand and Jamaica to make up the team representing the 53-member Commonwealth.
“Antarctica is a dangerous place, it can kill you, so it is impossible for a group of 53 women to travel together,” Ms Aston told the BBC.
Some of the women selected to take part in the adventure had never seen snow before the ( 2 week) practice session in Norway.