April 13, 2010
Day 42. Lucky 13... Kind of
We are tired and sore but still moving forward - and a crazy amount east for that matter. The winds have been brutal for nearly two days now. It's weird to have this constant wind now when previously we could count on things changing fairly quickly (I hope that makes sense).
Today was not a total carbon copy of yesterday, but it was definitely close We skied in and around drifts and even hit some bigger flat areas as well With the gusting winds, we skied most of the through a ground blizzard - beautiful to look at, but not so fun to ski in. For starters, spindrift got into everything - hats, mittens, sled bags. Anything with an open zipper was fair game. A fine layer of snow covered all of our gear. Breaks were especially troublesome. Behind ice blocks or out in the open, it didn't matter spindrift seemed to be searching us out. Seeping into our souls? I think so.
I enjoyed being outside today even if it was cold, windy and really hard work. Mostly, I liked the warmth associated with activity. One of the best things, in my opinion, is to be out in the really cold and be really warm. They say there is no such thing as bad weather, just bad base layers. Thanks Terramar!
I'm back to thinking about layers today... And oceans - we are on top of an ocean of water and at the bottom of an ocean of air. Today, I spent several hours watching blowing snow wind, bend and eddy. It is interesting to watch how the wind works - the same fluid dynamics I see in a river. As for turbulence, I am simply in awe.
We were treated to some beautiful snow sculptures similar to the sastrugi I've seen in Antarctica but on a smaller scale. Arched diving shapes reminded me of dolphins or salmon jumping up a rapids durring the spawn. Darcy thought of planes or sharks. AJ saw little waves and then, a big wave.
We stopped for a while so AJ could get his algae net out and take a sample. It was one of the few open water spots we of the whole day. The researchers from the University of Plymouth sent a message to collect ice shards with the algae frozen inside. However, we are seeing newer and newer ice and less evidence of algae. One theory we kicked around was that the ice has formed after an algae bloom. Regardless, AJ had his net in, used and put away in 15 minutes - a new record.
I'm not sure if it was the right move or not but I did a short cut across and back track to avoid an open water lead. It was to my right but appeared to potentially cut west toward the horizon. Hard to say, but I could see a safe crossing point 200 meters away so I veered. We skied through blowing ice fog for nearly 30 minutes afterwards an indication, at least partly of good judgement.
Image: Darcy skiing through the spindrift.
The Save the Poles expedition is sponsored by Bing with major support from the University of Plymouth, Terramar, Seventh Generation, Goal0, Atlas, Sierra Designs and Optic Nerve.
Remember, it's cool to be cold. Save the Poles. Save the planet.
For more information, please visit www.ericlarsenexplore.com
For information about guided Antarctic expeditions, please visit http://www.antarctic-logistics.com/
For media inquiries, please contact lora@screamagency.com
For technical inquires, please contact webexpeditions.net
Today was not a total carbon copy of yesterday, but it was definitely close We skied in and around drifts and even hit some bigger flat areas as well With the gusting winds, we skied most of the through a ground blizzard - beautiful to look at, but not so fun to ski in. For starters, spindrift got into everything - hats, mittens, sled bags. Anything with an open zipper was fair game. A fine layer of snow covered all of our gear. Breaks were especially troublesome. Behind ice blocks or out in the open, it didn't matter spindrift seemed to be searching us out. Seeping into our souls? I think so.
I enjoyed being outside today even if it was cold, windy and really hard work. Mostly, I liked the warmth associated with activity. One of the best things, in my opinion, is to be out in the really cold and be really warm. They say there is no such thing as bad weather, just bad base layers. Thanks Terramar!
I'm back to thinking about layers today... And oceans - we are on top of an ocean of water and at the bottom of an ocean of air. Today, I spent several hours watching blowing snow wind, bend and eddy. It is interesting to watch how the wind works - the same fluid dynamics I see in a river. As for turbulence, I am simply in awe.
We were treated to some beautiful snow sculptures similar to the sastrugi I've seen in Antarctica but on a smaller scale. Arched diving shapes reminded me of dolphins or salmon jumping up a rapids durring the spawn. Darcy thought of planes or sharks. AJ saw little waves and then, a big wave.
We stopped for a while so AJ could get his algae net out and take a sample. It was one of the few open water spots we of the whole day. The researchers from the University of Plymouth sent a message to collect ice shards with the algae frozen inside. However, we are seeing newer and newer ice and less evidence of algae. One theory we kicked around was that the ice has formed after an algae bloom. Regardless, AJ had his net in, used and put away in 15 minutes - a new record.
I'm not sure if it was the right move or not but I did a short cut across and back track to avoid an open water lead. It was to my right but appeared to potentially cut west toward the horizon. Hard to say, but I could see a safe crossing point 200 meters away so I veered. We skied through blowing ice fog for nearly 30 minutes afterwards an indication, at least partly of good judgement.
Image: Darcy skiing through the spindrift.
The Save the Poles expedition is sponsored by Bing with major support from the University of Plymouth, Terramar, Seventh Generation, Goal0, Atlas, Sierra Designs and Optic Nerve.
Remember, it's cool to be cold. Save the Poles. Save the planet.
For more information, please visit www.ericlarsenexplore.com
For information about guided Antarctic expeditions, please visit http://www.antarctic-logistics.com/
For media inquiries, please contact lora@screamagency.com
For technical inquires, please contact webexpeditions.net