Mike advanced 33kms yesterday and is now 199kms away from the Pole. His position this morning was 88°13.85 S, 81°42.928 W.

Even with very difficult conditions, strong head-on winds and deep snow, Mikes’ progression has been very good over the last few days.

“I have continued to climb in altitude and have now reached the last plateau before the pole. I am at 2700m of altitude and the pole is at 2834m.

The temperature has dropped and with these violent wind gusts, the temperature must to be around -40°C! As expected, my face is frozen on the nose and chin, but luckily no problem with the hands and feet. I take every precaution necessary to not expose them to the cold.” Says Mike.

Mike must be careful! A frozen finger may mean the end of his expedition.
Two days ago, another potential problem could have stopped him. A ski had pierced a fuel bottle in his sled and the fuel leaked over his extra clothing and some of his food. It took Mike two good hours to verify which of his food had been contaminated and to clean up the leaked fuel. Wisely Mike stored his food on the opposite side of the sled so this incidence had little consequence apart from the fact that Mike will have to stay in the same clothing until the end of the expedition!

News of Borge, Clémence and Nicolas is also good. They were finally able to take their plane to Patriots Hills. The Antarctic adventure finally starts for our two young explorers. Excitement is running high at Patriots Hills as they should be meeting up with Mike tomorrow!!!

" I walked the whole day yesterday and stopped after having done 28 kms – What a day!! The wind was very strong and of course blew at me, head-on, for the entire day. As well as that, I had to pull the
sled through very soft deep snow. I think I only slept for four hours so I'm very tired today!

I'll see how I go today and if I do not advance as I would like, I may think about putting down another cache.

It seems that Borge, Clémence and Nicolas must still be waiting in Punta Arenas as I have not had any news from them. I hope they'll be able to fly soon, as I hate to think of them loosing days out here.
It might be hard work but there is no experience like the Antarctic!"

Mike

Mike calls from Lat 87°24.464'S Lon 81°47.757' W.

The weather has become more stable and temperatures have dropped conciderably. This makes the sled glide better and of course is great for the morale after all the struggling over the last few days!"

"The temps must be around -28°C so I need to protect my nose and of course my fingers."

"Unfortunately it seems that Borge and the two young explorers are stuck in Punta Arenas still. They will arrive in Antarctica as soon as the wind drops and the landing piste has been cleared. I will use the time I have now to advance as quickly as possible as my pace will most likely slow down when they arrive. My goal is to arrive at the Pole on the 16th of January so I must do an average of 28 kms a day!"

"I hope that today will be a good one."

Kind regards!

Mike

"The winds had turned and I saw the opportunity of taking out the kite. I imagined myself doing 100kms in one go so was very excited. Ha ha! I was mistaken because as soon as the kite was up un the air, a nasty wind gust came and tangled the kite cords. It took forever to untangle them! After fixing them I decided to use a smaller kite instead and as soon as it went up, low and behold, the wind died down and my opportuntity was over! I sadly packed the kites away again. I guess that is why kites in general are not used when heading to the pole. Only once you are leaving the pole does it become an option"
"To regain lost time I continued walking through the evening. I did 16kms and only stopped and got into my tent at 1h30am!"
"Lets hope today will be a better day." say Mike.

Mike rings from Lat 86°58.4' S and Lon 82°15.93'W.

At one stage the wind changed so I thought I would get out my kite. I changed my boots, took the skins off my skis and then the wind changed again. I wasted time arranging my equipment when I could have been moving!!! 782 kms done and 338kms to go!!"

In the meantime, Borge Ousland along with our two young explorers Clémence and Nicolas, are supposed to fly into Patriots Hills today. It seems unlikely they will fly today due to white-out conditions. The next flight leaving Punta Arenas will probably be on the 6th!

I'm now at an altitude of 2000m and have 800 meters to go. I'm slowly but surely skiing my way up this glacial ice cap.

It's 7h30 am so it's time to get moving. It'll be a good 13 hours before I get into my tent again. I hope it'll be a good day. 360kms to go until the pole!" Mike

I'm now at 86°30.S and in a few more days will be at 87°S. Only 395 kms to do until the Pole. Its getting closer!

I'm in the tent preparing my porridge for breakfast. At the same time I'm listening to my MP3 player. It's good to listen to music at times. It helps the time pass.

Let's see what the day will ring us today. I'm hoping to do 30kms but with these conditions I think I might be exaggerating some what!" Mike.

What a crazy day! White-out conditions with strong gusts and the worse snow conditions ever! Pulling my sled felt like I was pulling it through wet concrete! I was exhausted by the end of the day and noticed that I only advanced 23 kms!

Today, the 1st of January 2009, already promises to be better. The weather seems to have cleared and the wind has died down.

Hope you all have a wonderful day and best wishes for 2009! Mike

Another tiring day!!!

" I walked the whole day yesterday and stopped after having done 28 kms – What a day!!
The wind was very strong and of course blew at me head-on for the entire day. As well as that, I had to pull the
sled through very soft deep snow.

"I think I only slept for four hours so I'm very tired today!
I'll see how I go today and if I do not advance as I would like I may think about putting down another cache"

Seems that Borge, Clémence and Nicolas must still be waiting in Punta Arenas as I have not had any news from them.
I hope they'll be able to fly soon, as I hate to think of them loosing days out here.
It might be hard work but the experience is well worth it."

Mike

Even with the late start I managed to do 31 kms so think that I'll be able to advance a lot more today.

I want to advance as much as possible before Borge comes out with Clémence and Nicolas. Not terribly sure when that will be. They will arrive in Patriot Hills around the 6th of January and will have a few days training with Borge. Only when he feels they are ready, will they come and join me on the ice. Ideally I would like for them to reach the Pole so that means I must get a move on now and advance my pace.

Nothing else to report. The Year is almost over so I find myself thinking about what has happened over the last year. There certainly hasn't been a dull moment!! More about that tomorrow!"

Mike