Today we were introduced to man-hauling- pulling a sledge (or pulk) loaded full of kit. We’ve left Patriot Hills and at the moment are sat in tents in the Heritage Range on the other side of the mountain range to Patriot Hills. We hauled enough kit for 5 days in case the weather changes but we are going to head back to Patriot tomorrow or the day after. Before today I had never done anything like this so I was apprehensive that I would be able to cope with pulling large weights in such extreme conditions. I loaded my pulk with my personal kit, science equipment, enough food for five days and my share of the tent and cooking equipment, as well as safety equipment including a helmet and ice axe. It probably weighed 30-40 kilos. When I first began to pull the sledge it moved with ease and I would almost go so far as to say that it ‘glided’ across the ice and snow. For the first hour it was straightforward and simply felt like walking along with a small amount of resistance. However then we encountered ‘Windy Gap’ a small pass that we would have to cross to get to our evening camp. Pulling a sledge uphill in the snow is no fun. Sliding down the hill on your sledge on the other side is! One of the hardest things today was getting the temperature of myself right. I went from boiling to freezing so quickly. I need to work on my layers. A few new experiences again today. My hair froze into a line of icicles at the front. I had to stick it over the stove to defrost it. I’ve just spent the last half hour trying to scrape ice out of the bottom of my boots. It took a while to pitch the tents and dig them in (surround them with a snow wall). But our camp looks great now. The pulks are tied down outside and our guides have built a toilet igloo for us. It’s beautiful with a nice view. Last night was the coldest yet. We measured our tent as -20°C when we got in it and -13 °C during the night. I woke up with a layer of ice crystals across my eye mask. It’s much warmer tonight. Our tent is a balmy 5°C. Ruth and are are getting a little too hot in our sleeping bags. It’s been great to build up our confidence of moving round on the ice and I’m looking forward to some more science tomorrow. We found out that one of the other expedition teams left yesterday because of the conditions. It’s made us feel pretty proud of ourselves and pleased that our equipment and kit have been up to the job!