April 2013

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Status Update

Status Update

By 1800 BST yesterday all units of the Ice Train had been moved to a position 700m west of the previous night’s camp. This puts the Ice Team on the edge of another area of ice upheaval which extends for about 1km and beyond which the terrain appears to ease. A further brief reconnaissance into this area yesterday in fading light and 50m visibility was not as encouraging as the previous visit…

Status Update

Status Update

Following Rob Lambert’s blog earlier this evening, there can be few readers who do not now understand just what a nightmare the Ice Team finds themselves in on this seemingly endless patch of blue ice. I think what he writes about how it would be a breeze on foot says it all: the Cats might be the only chance of crossing the Antarctic in winter, but they have their downsides for sure. Rob wrot…

The Holey Land – by Rob Lambert

The Holey Land – by Rob Lambert

Few things in life are more disconcerting than realising you’re in the middle of a minefield. Of course, for thousands of unlucky people around the world that’s a daily reality, but that’s another story. Here we’re comparatively lucky: the ground doesn’t go bang when you step in the wrong place, but it might just give way. Crevasses: the bugbear of icy travellers, and for the last week…

Status update by Brian Newham

Status update by Brian Newham

Written at 1900 BST yesterday: The area that we are in is a disturbed blue ice feature with extensive ice upheaval. This creates unpredictable crevassing in terms of location and orientation. GPR is producing a confused set of data due to the multitude of fractures lines within the ice. Reconnaissance on foot has taken us 1.8km south and this also has not identified a viable safe route. We hav…

Status Update

Status Update

Despite high winds this morning the visibility was sufficient to allow us to move south along our flagged route and then push onwards for a total of 2.2km. Poor traction on the ice required us to break down into eight loads however. All cabooses and fuel are now at this new position which is at the transitional section between blue ice and snow (ground conditions are currently a mixture of…

Into the Unknown

Into the Unknown

Crossing the Mother of All Blue Ice Crevasse Fields – a video by Ian Prickett, featuring Spencer Smirl and Brian Newham. Filmed two days ago, edited yesterday and aired today! &nbs…

Status Update

Status Update

High winds, very limited visibility and the fact that the Ice Team is in a difficult area have prevented the Ice Train moving…

Status Update

Status Update

Image by Ian Prickett After two days of painstakingly surveying and preparing a route across an especially difficult crevasse field, the Ice Team was finally able to get on the move again today and overcome the treacherous terrain. The team has spent most of the last two days identifying and filling in large holes in the blue ice with the Cats to enable safe passage and this comes with it a fair…

Pic of the Day

Pic of the Day

by Brian Newham…

Not Your Normal Service

Not Your Normal Service

By Spencer Smirl During our initial 250hr service 200hrs ago we had discovered that Seeker was transferring oil from both final drives into the transmission. This is the result of a failed lip seal where the axle shaft runs between the two gear boxes. This can be a fairly common failure at low temperatures but very unlikely at such low operating hours. The failure of the seal is the result of on…

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