Borge Ousland and Mike Horn have continued charging south with only a couple of days of food left. In the meantime, Bengt Rotmo and Aleksander Gamme have been dropped off onto the ice and are hustling toward them, to provide a food resupply, if necessary.
Ousland and Horn have racked up close to 30km a day in recent days, despite -40°C temperatures and difficulty sleeping. “We walk like two drunken men,” Ousland said yesterday. Yesterday, as if he didn’t have enough to do after sledding all day, he had to spend five hours painstaking lashing his sled back together. It too had felt the strain, and shattered in the cold. Even after the repair, however, it is now unable to float across leads.
The Lance, a sturdier vessel sent to back up Horn’s own Pangea, dropped off Rotmo and Gamme at around 82°N yesterday. One Norwegian source suggests that they are only 40km from Ousland and Horn.
Bengt Rotmo (middle) and Aleksander Game (right), ready to go. Photo: Jørgen Braastad
Decanting equipment from the Lance onto the Arctic Ocean. Photo: Jørgen Braastad
Earlier today Mike Horn said:
Borge and I have managed to cover an extra 20km [from ice drift] throughout the night. It has been our average for the past days, which is good progress.
With only two days of food left, time is of the essence. We still have approximately 70km to go…
Strong winds are coming our way tomorrow, so we might have to wait it out before we set off again. This might be a blessing in disguise as it will give us some time to rest, eat and gather our strength for the final stretch.
The positions of the support ship and Ousland and Horn as of Monday (Lundi) and Tuesday (Mardi). Rotmo and Gamme intend to drop off food, and then all four will proceed to the pickup zone to meet with the Lance. Photo: Mike Horn
