Triathlon
22. May 2010Greetings All
A quick update as the year races by.
Joining the local triathlon squad on my return to NZ late last year resulted in a much higher level of training intensity and lifted me to a new level. Although I did not have qualifying for Long Distance on the radar, my coach thought I should have a go at the Taupo Half Ironman last December. Somehow I managed to fluke a 3rd placing so that qualified me for the team to represent NZ at the 2010 World Long Distance Age Group Triathlon Champs in Immenstadt, Germany on 1st August.
Training continued with some big weeks over Christmas and New Year with the next target being the NZ Sprint Distance Nationals in February. Had a good race and fluked another 3rd so that qualified me for the 2010 World Sprint Distance Champs in Budapest, Hungary on 11th September.
So with two months to go before I head to Germany, training is ramping up again. Two months of hard work in front of me and hopefully no show stopping injuries. After the Long Distance Champs in Germany I will head to Toulon, France for the 5 weeks of speed work before the Sprint Champs in Budapest.
On the space front Virgin Galactic have unveiled Space Ship Enterprise which will transport us into space. Virgin are busy with their testing programme and have also started work on constructing the Space Centre in New Mexico where we will blast off from. Still number 279 and still hoping for an upgrade!!
Cheers
Ross
Christmas 2009 Update
24. December 2009Greetings All,
Yet another year’s end approaches. Merry Christmas to you all and all the very best for 2010.
With reaching the South Pole and then the group and solo North Pole expeditions, 2009 has been a huge year for me. Huge personal challenges and hugely rewarding experiences.
After completing the icy challenges I then based myself in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, from May to October and set about getting triathlon-fit again. Did two triathlons as part of the process and scored a couple of 2nd places though this was very much a reflection on the level of competition rather than my abilities. Also did a couple of adventure races which was a whole new learning curve, especially with navigation; strange as that may seem after guiding myself to the North Pole.
Returned to NZ mid October and joined a squad of triathletes for the purpose of training to a higher intensity and hopefully be able to achieve qualifying for the World Age Group Triathlon Championships in Europe next year. This will be a tougher challenge than dragging a pulk across polar ice as there are so many fast old roosters out there!!
Another little project on the horizon: I have just signed up to go into space with Virgin Galactic. At the Oshkosh airshow, Wisconsin, a few months ago I was able to see the new mothership, White Knight Two, from which Spaceship Two launches at 50,000 feet and then is rocket propelled on its suborbital journey through the atmosphere and into zero gravity. Spaceship Two was recently unveiled in the Mojave Desert, California and Virgin Galactic expect to start commercial flights late 2011. At this point I am passenger 279 so not sure when I will be called. Can’t wait!!
Best Wishes
Ross
North Photos
6. May 2009Greetings
Photos of the group and solo trips now up. Unfortunately they do not load in the sequence selected so order is random.
Regards
Ross
Northern Stories
6. May 2009Greetings All
Solo
19. April 2009Greetings All
Continuing from the North Pole posting…. I flew back to Barneo the Russian Base Camp on the ice and was then dropped at 89 degrees by helicoptor for the last degree as per the last trip but this time solo. Skiing across floating ice towards the North Pole by ones self was a very different situation to being with others. The task was also very different this time with windy conditions, a fast ice drift and significant ice movement resulting in lots of water leads that needed to be crossed. A very steep learning curve. The critical factor being not to end up in the water. Fortunately the ice drift remained positive towards the pole and I was able to complete the 110km in three and a half days arriving at the Geographic North Pole at 1240 Friday 17th (Norwegian Time). Some heart in the mouth moments along the way but very very satisfying to have completed my private test.
Will send the full story of both trips soon.
Best Regards
Ross
North Pole
13. April 2009Greetings
Very pleased to advise I arrived at the Geographic North Pole at 1015 hrs (Norwegian Time) on 10th April. Fantastic trip!! I am now back in Longyearbyen and head back down to the ice this afternoon to make a solo trip.
Hopefully back in Longyearbyen around 22nd and will send all the stories then though that may not happen until I arrive in the USA 27th.
Cheers
Ross
Longyearbyen
30. March 2009Greetings All,
Currently in Copenhagen and fly up to Longyearbyen, Norway, tomorrow morning to join the others for the North Pole expedition. We are scheduled to be on the ice 2nd April and all going well I should be able to post the story 3rd week of April. Looking forward to getting back on the ice and seeing what these Arctic ice flows are all about!!
Cheers
Ross
TV3
3. March 2009Greetings All,
New Zealand television station TV3 run a small clip about my Polar exploits on their 9pm news programme last night. Presenter Adam Hollingworth came up with the idea and then did an excellent job of putting the clip together and was even able to show pretty good restraint on artistic licence!!
You can view the news clip with the following link and then click on Watch Video.
Regards
Ross
Headed North
13. February 2009Greetings Folks
After arriving at the Geographic South Pole on 3rd January NZT it seemed logical, though some friends have described it slightly differently, to head for the Geographic North Pole. So the plan is in place folks.
On 30th March I will meet up with some fellow expeditioners in Spitsbergen, Norway, where we will join an expedition run by Russian Polar experts, Vicaar International. Similiar deal to Antarctica with chilly temperatures and hauling pulks across icy stuff but this one is much shorter. From Spitsbergen we will be airlifted into Vicaar’s base camp at around 89 degrees latitude. We will then haul the last degree (110 km) to the Geographic North Pole.
The big differences in the North are that we will be on sea ice of varying thicknesses instead of 3000 feet of ice on land with Antarctica. The going in the North will be much tougher with ice rubble and pressure ridges presenting a more difficult terrain than the wind formed sastrugi in the South. Travelling on iceflows will also present additional challenges if they are moving away from the Pole. I understand they had to keep moving groups forward by helicopter last year as the iceflows were moving away from the Pole faster than the groups could haul towards it.
After missing out on a Polar Bear sighting during the Polar Challenge early last year I really look forward to being back in the home of these magnificent animals. Hopefully we will have some encounters.
The next hot press release should be from Spitsbergen before heading onto the ice.
Regards to All
Ross
The Journey
1. February 2009Seasons Greetings All,
I am now back in
Picking up the thread from the last posting at
Early morning 10th November we received notification of pick up and by mid morning we were boarding the huge Russian Ilyushin 76 cargo jet that would transport us.
After all the mundane training and preparation the Ilyushin fish tailing as it landed on the blue ice runway at Patriot Hills 5 hours later kick started the excitement.
Disembarking onto the expansive ice of the Antarctic Continent was rather surreal. The adventure was about to really begin.
A small team of Antarctic Logistics & Expeditions (ALE) staff had flown down with the Twin Otter aircraft ALE use on the ice and been at Patriot Hills for a week preparing the runway for the Ilyushin and getting the first of the camp facility tents up; but other than a few tents and some machinery there was not much there. The first significant group of the 50 or so ALE staff that operate the Patriot Hills camp, and also a smaller camp at
We pitched our tents and had an easy day preparing our pulks (sleds) as we had been scheduled for the next days flight to our start point at Hercules Inlet, 80 degrees south on the coast. Mid afternoon of 11th November we loaded our 60kg pulks and ourselves onto one of the Twin Otters. Thirty minutes later we were standing on the ice at Hercules Inlet with our skis and pulks watching the Otter take off and head back to Patriot Hills. Only 1170 kms to the Pole. Wanting to establish a daily routine we only hauled for two hours that day before setting up camp number one, but the journey had commenced. Over the next three days we hauled up the steepest terrain of the journey. The definition of steep needs to be put in context in that we were able to ski at all times so no problem. This area was also where the most crevasses were encountered though again no great problem with Sarah’s expertise on hand. Most were less than a metre wide and a few good prods with the ski pole determined how cautious we needed to be. A few were up to 5 metres wide and we simply took the safe option of moving to a narrower section before crossing. In the cases where you could break through the bridging ice, with the ski pole, it was quite enlightening to see just how deep these ice cracks are. Around midday of day four, 14th November, we arrived back into Patriot Hills. The ALE staff had been busy and the camp was taking shape with the dining tent being the main attraction. We spent the afternoon at Patriot Hills sorting equipment, discarding some items we had put to test and decided not to continue with, and to rectify skin attachments to skis (skins provide grip) which had given problems.
The next morning with strong winds and a 60 knot wind warning, we headed off. A testing day in strong winds as we traversed across numerous patches of blue ice at the base of the Patriot Hills ranges. The wind strength was increasing as we pitched camp number five, and with the 60 knot wind warning we expected a turbulent night. We were not disappointed. Early morning one of the poles broke in our tent so it was all hands on deck to sort the problem before further damage occurred. The spare pole was fitted and back into the safety of the tent. With the winds hammering the tent and threatening further pole breakages, we sat inside holding the tent structure for support until Tom had the superb idea of using our ski boots and ski poles as props. A couple of hours later the girls’ tent had succumbed with two broken poles so we had no alternative but to collapse it completely and stow it before it was destroyed. Five of us in one tent was very cosy. About midday the winds started to ease and we spent the afternoon repairing the tents. Next morning, day seven, we were back on the trail.
My diary is filled with daily notes but rather than totally bore you all, I will try to give an overview of the next 46 days’ journey to the pole.
We woke at 0630 each morning, and whoever was on cooking duty would start the cookers and get water boiling for breakfast and hot drinks. Water made from snow the previous evening and stored in nalgene bottles was used for a quick start. Preparing a breakfast of oatmeal or granola with hot water, hot drinks, replenishing nalgenes and reheating nalgenes/thermoses was a constant rolling process for the cook. All cooking was done in the vestibule at the upwind end of the tent, the door being at the downwind end. By 0800 the morning tasks were pretty much done and at 0815 it was time to pack up the pulks, drop the tents and strap skis on. The first week or so we were hauling by 0845 but as efficiencies were improved we had that down to 0830. Then the day consisted of hauling for 3 x one-and-a-half hour stints, and 2 x one-and-a-quarter hour stints to give an actual seven hours of hauling. The breaks between stints were 15 to 20 minutes with the first task on stopping being to put a down jacket on to try and maintain body core temperature while stopped. Peeing was usually the next task for which minimum time with gloves off and dangly bits out was the key objective. That done, it was sit on your pulk back into the wind and take some drink and food.
The day food packs made up back in Punta were different for each individual but were essentially salami and crackers, nuts/dried fruit trail mix, muesli bars, and high sugar items. I didn’t use chocolate as an energy source so supplemented my intake with extra energy bars and cookies. For day drinks I used 1 x thermos, and 1 x nalgene (approximately 2.2 litres) of water with an electrolyte sachet in each one. Break sessions were usually quiet affairs, sitting on our pulks munching and slurping with the 15 minutes disappearing quickly although everyone looked forward to getting back to hauling as it was surprising how quickly the body core temperature dropped in the short break time, even with big down jackets on. After breaks the body always felt cold for the first 15 – 20 minutes of hauling and often it would take me 30 minutes or so of working the hands before they were nice and warm again.
Our last stint usually ended around 1700 hours then it was tents up. If you were on cooking duty you were first into the tent to get the cookers going and start making water from snow. Hopefully someone had some water left over from day drinks to get the process going. Cooking was a full-on job with making water for hot drinks, filling all the thermos flasks and nalgene bottles, then dinner, another round of hot drinks and finally some wash water if it was wash night. Washing entailed some hot water in a plastic bag, doubled up to minimize the risk of leakage into the tent, wring the cloth out and clean the body bits that needed cleaning. A quick wipe of the face first seemed like the best idea even though it was the same cloth from the last wash of the dirtier bits.
Drying clothes of perspiration was the next task. On the nights when the sun was shining (I say night but of course it was 24 hour daylight) drying was a simple matter of securing items to the line inside the tent with safety pins and they would be dry by morning. On low light days, it was necessary to bring the cookers from the vestibule into the main tent area which then heated up and dried clothing. I preferred not to use vapour barriers (plastic bags) on my feet which made the feet a whole lot less smelly but required removal of my boot liners each night for drying. Every few days the boot interiors would also need a good de-icing.
We always aimed for a 2130-2200 sleep time but repairs often prevented this. There always seemed to be something that needed sewing repairs from the rigours of the expedition. In the early part of the expedition it was often cold in the tent once the cookers were turned off, but later on in December when the sun inclination was greater it was reasonably warm in the tent when the skies were clear. Sleeping on the sunny side was least favourable in the later weeks as it was often too hot in a minus 40 degree C sleeping bag.
Every 5 days we had a tent rotation where there would be a change between the 3 man and the 2 man tents. Both tents were 3 man Hellibergs. This way each person had time in the more spacious 2 man tent and spent time with all the expedition members.
As we reached each degree of latitude there was a “degree party” which meant Sarah would prepare the evening meal. We all piled into which ever tent Sarah was in and devoured whatever delights she had prepared. These nights which occurred approximately every 5 days also provided an opportunity for the whole team to get together as normally you just kept to your own tent.
Typically I wore one base layer of top and bottom thermals, one pair of ski pants, one pair vapour-therm socks, boots, one vapour-therm top, one breathable anorak fitted with a fur ruff, one fleece neck warmer, one fleece balaclava, one woolen hat, ski goggles and three pairs of gloves (base-intermediate-shell layers). Skis were Fisher 99 cross country skis fitted with full length 25mm skins until 87 degrees of latitude where I changed to half length kicker skins. Body temperature management was a constant process to try and stay warm, but not to perspire. Sounds easy but it needs constant vigilance of environmental changes and work load fluctuations, and preparing for the cooling that happened during the days food-drink stops. Closing up clothing vents was one way of increasing body core temperature in preparation for a stop but that didn’t always work. Hands were my biggest problem and, looking back, good old woolen glove liners would have been a better bet than the various modern synthetic liners I had which caused perspiration which then turned into ice during the stops.
On skis pulling a laden pulk across a frozen continent is not quite an everyday pastime and one went through various thought processes. If a good train of thought presented itself then the hauling stints passed very quickly. If I could not get focused on a subject and the mind just flitted around on no particular thing then time dragged and I simply could not control the process. The mind either focused or it didn’t. When it did then the level of clarity and thinking without any background noises, only the swish of skis and no visual distraction with only white to every horizon, was amazing.
Day 16 we arrived at 82.5 degrees South, our first re-supply depot. A small cache of supplies in the middle of nowhere, dropped off by one of the Twin Otters. The modern GPS does make life easy. Next day with thirteen more days of provisions loaded we were off again. No rubbish drop off; everything from the depot must be taken as the Otter does not return. Next way point was the depot at
Day 29 we arrived at our second depot near
At this stage we had climbed to just over 5000 feet elevation and with the Pole at 9,300’ we still had some ascending to do.
Most of this remaining ascent (500 feet some days) was done in the leg up to our third depot at approx. 87.5 South and the approach to the plateau.. 500 feet doesn’t sound much but made for a solid day’s hauling though the sastrugi were getting smaller, giving smoother terrain.
Day 41 we arrived at depot three and the last 15 days’ supplies. From this point we started to experience much less sastrugi and more softer snow which made much easier skiing but increased the friction on the pulks making for more solid hauling. Two days later, at 88 degrees South, we were pretty much on the plateau at 9000’ elevation and essentially a flat run to the Pole. The more even surface but softer snow was now the predominant condition.
Day 45 was Christmas day and what a cracker. Blue skies, light winds and a white Christmas. It just doesn’t get any whiter than this. The typical Kiwi Christmas day is a huge lunch with family and a lazy afternoon. The salami and crackers even after 45 days still seemed like a tasty Christmas lunch but the lazy afternoon wasn’t available. We still had a few hours of hauling to do. That evening we were all treated to another one of Sarah’s great meals and
From the time we left Hercules Inlet until 88 degrees South (43 days) the terrain was pretty much a common theme; sastrugi, sastrugi and more sastrugi. These are the formations carved out of the ice by the ever-present, predominantly Southerly wind. Smaller sastrugi (150mm high), larger sastrugi (500mm high), sastrugi that tipped pulks over, just sastrugi!! Sometimes we were going down into dips, sometimes we were hauling up out of dips but always over sastrugi.
On clear sky days, visibility was great and larger sastrugi can be easily navigated around but on low light days where cloud cover blocked the sun, navigating the sastrugi was more difficult. In low light conditions, although you can clearly see someone in front of you, all depth perception on the white surface is lost and one generally only knows what the surface is by what their skis are telling them. The loss of definition was high-lighted on those low light days when selecting a tent site. Down on knees checking the surface for flatness thinking you had the perfect site only to find quite a different situation once in the tent.
Weather-wise, we had a dream trip with most days predominantly clear blue skies and therefore sunny. The visuals of rich blue skies against the whiteness of
Temperatures in November were in the -20C to -25C region, though in December -15 to -20C was more common, minus whatever the wind chill for the day was.
The weather on the plateau was quite different to the typically settled patterns of the earlier weeks. Here the weather changed often during the day and hence very quickly between clear skies to low light conditions.
Day 51 was New Year’s Eve so all into Sarah’s tent for dinner and some more of
New Year’s Day was the usual 7 hours hauling and we set up camp with 4.5 nautical miles to run. What a way to start the year!! Rather than pushing on the idea was to arrive at the Pole around noon so we would have the rest of the day to take it all in and enjoy the moment.
January 2nd morning we set off on the final leg and at 11:15 hours Chilean time (0350 hours, 3rd January NZ time) we arrived at the Geographic South Pole after 1170 kms and 53 days from Hercules Inlet. What a great feeling. First stop was the ceremonial barber’s pole with the shiny globe surrounded by the 12 Treaty nations’ flags for group photos. Then 30m across to the actual Geographic Pole marker which is repositioned January 1st each year due to its movement from ice shear during the year. So we were the first expedition to arrive at the new 2009 position. Each year a new figure head for the marker is designed and manufactured by the winter-over staff at the American base.
More group photos, tents up and then we accepted the Base invitation for tea, cookies and a tour of the Base. The new American Base, still under construction, is a very impressive facility which houses approx 300 scientists and support staff during the summer months of October to February and approx 60 personnel during the winter months. Base protocol is that once your tour is over its back outside until your pick up arrives though we were kindly treated to a very comprehensive tour of the Icecube Project.
January 5th an Otter arrived late afternoon to airlift us back to Patriot Hills. Well 3 of us plus the Messner group which had arrived January 3rd as Tom and Sarah were kiting back once their equipment arrived on a later flight. It had been fantastic to have 3 days at the Pole just taking it all in and reflecting on the trip.
Only a four hour flight, with a refueling stop at Thiels, to cover the same ground that had taken us 53 days of hauling.
A mixed bag from various sections of the globe. Sarah our guide from
What a great adventure. The visuals from start to finish are beyond description; simply stunning. Even after days of no landmarks, only a white surface as far as the eye could see in any direction, the sheer beauty of the place was always present and I never tired of looking at it. It is a huge privilege to undertake such an expedition and to have it culminate by standing at the South Pole. One can only hope that this magnificent slice of the earth remains relatively unmarked.
