December 5, 2007
Phew! A gruelling 48 hours but we are back online. My blisters are covered with duct tape, as nothing else seems to stick, my chilblains are still giving me trouble on my fingers, I’ve had my leg down a crevasse and I’ve never felt quite so exhausted. Still we have made it. We now have 6 sledges and our poo sledge at the top of the mountain pass. The view from our tents has to be one of the most spectacular in the world. It’s certainly the most amazing place I have ever camped. 1562m high with views across a mountain range on to the polar plateau. It is almost worth the effort it took to get us up here! We must have 4-500 kilos of kit that we have hauled to a point higher than Ben Nevis. Over the last two days we have dragged heavy sledges uphill for about 9 hours. Most sledges have involved at least 3 people pulling one sledge and some have involved all 6 of us. I can’t think how many times we have been up and down this mountain! Our bodies have taken an absolute battering. At some points our strides were just 10cm as we inched our way up, clinging on to each centimetre with our crampons.
Last night we got to the top at about 11pm. I could hardly walk and as soon as we stopped our sweat froze so it was freezing cold. We then had to pitch tents at a bitterly cold -20 degrees. Believe me at that stage it was the last thing I wanted to do! We were all covered with frost with frozen hair and barely functioning hands. Ruth and I could hardly think and we kept putting the poles into the wrong places. Part of pitching our tents is to cover the side valances with snow to ‘dig them in’ in order to keep the tents secure in the wind. Digging snow up here on this pass was like digging concrete. It was brutal. After a 6 hour uphill haul with no dinner it was a real test to get our tent safely dug in. At one stage I was practically on my knees! I’m feeling really proud of what we’ve achieved as a team over the last few days. It has been a huge feat to haul everything out of the canyon. To start with we didn’t think it was going to be possible, it really shows what can happen when you have 6 people who aren’t going to give up! Our guides were great motivational sources and Carolyn was on a personal mission with our poo sledge, dragging it up the mountain single handed. It was an inspiration to all of us!
It was after midnight when we finally had dinner and didn’t get to bed until 2.30am as we were scraping ice from our boots and defrosting our clothes. Then it was a 6.15am wake up call for satellite phone conversations with radio stations and some of our schools. I got the chance to speak to my Year 10 pupils at Higham Lane School in Nuneaton. It was absolutely fantastic hearing their voices and some of their questions. It really brought home why we are here and it made me really look forward to getting back and seeing them. Thank you Year 10 for your messages of support and fantastic questions. After 48 hours of hell it was a real breath of fresh air. It means a lot to know that people back home are keeping updated with our progress. Particularly on days like the ones we have just had. It is hard to express how much those questions, best wishes and messages of support mean. Thank you and keep them coming!
December 6th, 2007 at 9:07 am
Hello again Amy.
After mentioning to my Year 8 form that you have to poo in a bag, they suddenly became increasingly interested in what you’ve been up to, so I thought we’d write you a group e-mail so they cold ask you some of their questions.
Here’s a selection of some of the best (!):
Why do you have to tow your own poo? Why can’t you just drop it? (Tom Godwin)
Have you seen any penguins? (Elliot Powell)
After you’ve done all the hard work, do you feel it’s worth it? (Hannah Dabin)
Have you had to build an igloo? (Laura Egan)
Have you built any snowmen? (Elliot Powell)
Do you know Louise Plummer? (Elliot Powell)
Have any of you turned into a penguin - in other words, are you all walking funny because of the cold? And say Hi to Pingu! (Tom Godwin)
What research have you actually done? (Ian Strachan)
What home-comforts are you missing most? (Mr.Bottrill)
What are you eating out there? (George Riley)
Would you rather be too hot or too cold? (Mr.Bottrill)
Who are you missing most from school? Connor Dawes)
From your experience so far, would you do it again? (Beccy Naughton)
I hope these little pearls of wisdom keep you amused!
All the best, Ian
December 10th, 2007 at 4:48 pm
Hi Mr Bottrill. What a fantastic lot of questions. It certainly cheered me up after a busy days hauling! You will have to tell your form what stars they are. The other teachers here were very impressed with the questions that they (and you!) have come up with. I’ll have a go at answering them.
1.Why do you have to tow your own poo? Why can’t you just drop it? (Tom Godwin)
Well Tom. Antarctica is a very special place and the areas we are travelling through have only been visited by a handful of people. To minimise our impact on the environment we are collecting all our poo in large bags- which for some reason have Father Christmas on them - and carrying it so it can be
flown out. This reduces the direct impact on Antarctica- although flying it out causes some pollution. I can tell you that poo is very heavy when you have large quantities of it.
2. Have you seen any penguins? (Elliot Powell)
Hi Elliot. We haven’t seen any penguins here and we don’t expect to see them as we are about 600 miles from the coast. It would be one very lost penguin if it turned up here. We are actually the only living things around for miles, with the exception of lichens.
3. After you’ve done all the hard work, do you feel it’s worth it? (Hannah Dabin)
Great question Hannah! It’s been incredibly hard work, but I think every minute has been worth it as we have managed to find some lichens in places that people have never found them before. It’s quite a special feeling knowing that you have found something new that no one else in the world knew.
It’s also very special walking in places where it’s quite likely that no one has ever walked before.
4.Have you had to build an igloo? (Laura Egan)
We build mini igloos at every stop to use as toilets. It is very cold and windy and dropping your trousers at -35 degrees is not very comfortable. The igloo gives us a little bit of protection from the wind.
5. Have you built any snowmen? (Elliot Powell)
Do you know Louise Plummer? (Elliot Powell)
You’ve been busy with questions Elliot! We haven’t had the chance to build a snowman but we have cut ice blocks to make big words in the snow. Louise is my cousin- which means I must be related to you in some way- but I can’t figure out how exactly. Lucky you!
6.Have any of you turned into a penguin - in other words, are you all walking funny because of the cold? And say Hi to Pingu! (Tom Godwin)
Hello again Tom. We are walking funny because of all our blisters so perhaps we do all look like penguins. I will say hi to Pingu if I see him.
7.What research have you actually done? (Ian Strachan)
Great question Ian. We have searched for and found lichens in areas where people didn’t know there were any. When we find one we take photos, record a GPS location, write descriptions of the habitat and take small samples if we can. When we get back to the UK we will work with experts at the University
of Nottingham to identify the lichen species we have found and also to see whether we can find any tardigrades (microscopic animals) living in them. So most of our research has been collection so far and the next step will be when we get back.
8.What home-comforts are you missing most? (Mr.Bottrill)
Where do I start Mr Bottrill. I think probably a toilet. Also a shower. After 28 days of not washing I can confirm that your hair does not look great. I look like I have stepped out a swimming pool.
9.What are you eating out there? (George Riley)
We are eating a lot of chocolate George. Three bars a day. We also eat nuts, cereal bars, cereal in the morning, cup-a-soups and for dinner a lovely rehydrated meal. Mmmmm. After a month of eating the same thing every day I am getting very fed up of it. In fact I don’t think I can talk about food
any more. It is too painful. It makes me think of pizza and chips.
10. Would you rather be too hot or too cold? (Mr.Bottrill)
Phew that’s a tough one. If you get too hot here then you sweat and your sweat freezes and then you get really cold. But if you get too cold there is usually something you can do like get in your sleeping bag. So here I think too cold- as long as I’ve got a way to warm up. But elsewhere in the
world…I’m a heat seeker!
11. Who are you missing most from school? Connor Dawes)
Well Connor. I think I’m missing you the most. I’m also missing my form very much and all my classes really. I’m missing the teachers too. I don’t think I would be able to narrow it down.
12. From your experience so far, would you do it again? (Beccy Naughton)
Yes Beccy. I would jump at the chance to do this again. It’s been amazing and I feel very lucky to get the chance to see such an incredible place.