News from HQ

It’s minus 43C with 28 knot winds this morning, so things are certainly starting to get a little chilly with the Ice Team right now. Progress has been hampered by mechanical issues with the GPR which is still not fixed. The team have been working closely with Allied Associates over email and are hoping that they are now very close to resolving the problem. Combined with the slow progress of t…

As you may have read yesterday, the team is currently winching back six fuel scoots which had become stranded beyond the reach of the Cats because of severe crevassing blocking their path. Yesterday, they pulled back two scoots, today they did the next two, and if all goes well, all six of the scoots will be alongside the Cats and cabooses by this time tomorrow, ready to head out of this…

The Ice Team are camped in the middle of a hideous crevasse field with seemingly bottomless cracks up to 4m across and big enough to swallow a 25-tonne without it even touching the sides. Needless to say this is a very stressful place to be and it is keeping the Ice Team on their toes at all times. Making matters worse the Ground Penetrating Radar is not working, which effectively means the team…

Whilst the team continues to battle the elements in the south, here’s a chance to make them giggle. The winner will be the answer which makes them laugh the most (and that’s your prize this time too!)…

With the sun having now set on them for the next three months or more, the Ice Team find themselves in an especially inhospitable area of terrain with severe crevassing being exposed in all directions. The team are making extensive use of the ground penetrating radar to help them find these holes and identify the safest route south; however, this is taking a lot of time and they are yet to find a…

The Ice Team have broken free from the blue ice field at last and are now making their way south again, which any reader will know is very good news. The Ground Penetrating Radar was deployed for the first few kilometres yesterday and thankfully no evidence of crevassing was detected. This is key, as encountering a similar patch of blue ice or crevasse field as the one just covered would hav…

We have a winner to our sunset competition. Well done Jean Nichol for her beautiful photograph taken at Eskdale in Cumbria. Sir Ranulph will be in touch… Thank you to everyone who sent in their pictures and to all of you who voted. Best wishes, Hug…

Two days of good progress have put the Ice Team in a strong position to finally break out of the blue ice field once and onto the next stage of the journey. Yesterday, six fuel scoots were moved approx 2.2km west along the marked route, with the first 1.3km done by winching. Today, the team moved the cabooses and two of the remaining eight scoots 3km and they are now beyond the nasty area. So…

The Ice Team has made excellent progress today in, for once, favourable conditions. Although the temperature has been hovering around a chilly -38C, the wind dropped to a more moderate level today and visibility improved immensely. With the elements in their favour, Spencer and Richmond have managed to wind a route to the far side of the upheaval with the Cats. No loads have been moved yet but at…

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…