Progress Report

Fortunately the very strong winds that we had yesterday eased during the night to a more moderate 30 knots and that was enough to allow us to start the GPR survey of the route ahead. This is a badly crevassed area but thankfully many of the bridges that we built on our southbound journey we found were still intact. By lunchtime we had surveyed up and over the hill and  identified a few mor…

Current position: S72 45′ 37.1″     E023 35′ 54.6″ Altitude: 2704m Distance travelled today: 2.0 km We had good conditions today and we were able to GPR the route for 2km through an area of obvious upheaval, with minor route preparation work along the way. We then moved all six loads through to a relatively safe area. Much of the movement was done with loads on the winch cable to reduc…

Today was a productive day. Overnight the wind eased slightly, although it was still over 40 knots, but more importantly there was less drifting snow in the air so visibility improved to a hundred meters or more. Added to that was an almost cloudless sky so surface contrast was good. It was time to move camp. After several hours of final snow clearance and a few tweaks on the skis to break t…

Six fuel scoots were moved 5.4km yesterday, and a further six were moved to the same location today.  Deteriorating conditions made it prudent to then call a halt and the cabooses were not moved. We now have just two loads left to move. We also carried out our weather observations for the Met Office as normal, as well as snow sampling, minor Cat maintenance and day one of a five day White Mars…

With the Met observations and GPS trials continuing daily in spite of the blizzard, today was the first time in more than two weeks that the winds have dropped enough to allow the team outside to work in earnest. The team took the opportunity to begin a new snow sampling regime, as well as some digging out of Cat’s. Brian Newham also managed to get this picture of camp. The intentions for…

To all of our supporters, The first ever attempt to cross Antarctica in winter, dubbed “The Coldest Journey”, has covered over 300 kilometers and climbed from sea level to almost 3,000 meters up to the polar plateau, since the five man team set out on 21st March this year.  This is the furthest distance and longest period that any expedition has travelled in the polar winter months.  Using…

A quick update this Saturday evening to say that the Ice Team has finally consolidated all parts of the Ice Train and have established a camp at S72 51′ 13.5″, E023 33′ 50.2″. After weeks of operating in hellish conditions surrounded by wide and deep crevasses the team took a well-earned day off today, save for completing the first day of a five-day medical research regime as part of the on-going…

The wind dropped to a very gentle breeze yesterday making life much easier for the Ice Team as they continued their progress over the crevasse fields towards the six remaining fuel scoots. The team shifted camp 500m in four loads, but despite all the careful reconnaissance and GPR surveying they still opened two crevasses which had to be repaired before crossing. Today the team will continue wit…

The team have spent the last two days using the GPR to survey the start of the 5km route back to the other six fuel scoots, which they need to reach in order to get the full Ice Train back together as a complete unit. This works by using one Cat to house the GPR unit and with two people working on foot with the antenna (see picture). Progress has been slow, with the team only surveying 500m.

The Cat tent was packed away yesterday following which both vehicles were warmed and started. The two scoots that had been left 150m away have now been brought to camp and the local snow drifts have been groomed to allow extraction and movement of the camp. The plan for today is to start GPR work on the route back out of this area. There is likely to be route preparation work before the team ar…