Antarctica wrap-up: Amundsen (still) King, Queen Maud Land horror, Messner point kick-off

Posted: Nov 23, 2011 02:54 pm EST

(Angela Benavides) To this day Roald Amundsen and his countrymen seem to be holding the key for a timely arrival at the South Pole: halfway there the Norwegians in his footprints have renewed hope they'll make it to the celebrations on December 14.

Meanwhile, teams in Queen Maud Land continue to suffer. The Basques had a crevasse incident; Eric and Sebastian are stuck in a storm, Germans Armand and Dieter have called the expedition off. Sam and Dixie are back out and Howard Fairbank is off from the Messner starting point.

"Some call it luck, I call it preparation," said Amundsen and he wasn't kidding. Building a cairn every other mile from this point, and leaving a cache at every degree with a weeks worth of food for humans and dogs, paved for speedy progress and safe return.

Scott sadly continued to pay for his lack of attention to experienced advice.

Norwegians from Bay of Whales: km no 655

"At lunchtime today, we passed kilometre number 655: A bit more than the distance across Greenland," the Norwegian team reported. "And we are still on the Ross Ice Shelf – this gargantuan floating glacier."

The number shows the overwhelming size of the ice-shelves and also marks halfway to the South Pole.

The originally delayed Norwegians have been on the ice for 22 days - with another 22 days before the anniversary on December 14 they could still make it.

Novo teams:

The Basques had more drama yesterday when Juan Vallejo's sled fell in a hidden crevasse. Juan managed to hold on until his mates cut him free from the 170 kg (375 lb) sledge (which they recovered from the crevasse later).

"Luckily, Juan's got Hercule's abs," said Alberto about his ice-buddy, actually a no-O2 Everest summiteer famous with Spanish Himalayan climbers for his physical strength.

Armand Wirth and Dieter Staudinger called off their expedition from SANAE base due to hard conditions and are back home in Germany.

Eric McNair and Sebastian Copeland have been stuck in a blizzard for two days.

"Antarctica’s dry air and the tent’s greenhouse effect bring the indoor temperature to a very moderate 10C degrees or so," Sebastian reported from inside their shelter.

"Indoor life can be relatively civilized. Upon stepping outside, however, the fierce conditions are an instant reminder of the respect Antarctica commands."

Sam and Dixie are back on the ice and reported some distance on perfect terrain.

Ronne-Filchner teams

Howard Fairbank was airlifted to the Messner start point on November 21st. He described his first day on the ice as "very hard, and very sobering".

Jubilee expedition: Not yet

The international team was still at Union Glacier yesterday. Leader Christian Eider was concerned about the team's lack of exercise in the past 3 weeks. "They'll get stiff arms and legs when they finally start skiing," he said.

Felicity Ashton was in the base as well.

Amundsen, Nov 23, 1911: Good to rest in bad weather

"The gale has continued all day. Luckily it came on a rest day," Amundsen wrote. "It has died down this evening and the prospects for getting away tomorrow are good. From here a cairn will be built every other mile. A depot will be left at every degree, with human food for seven days and dog food for six days; a weight of 90 kilos. This will quickly lighten our sledges."

Scott: Pony problems

Although still hopefull that the ponies would endure the trip, Scott was increasingly concerned about their slow progress under bright sun and crusty surface which made the animals' hooves to sink at every step.

Weather was also a reason for worry: "It is banking up to the south (T. +9°) and I'm afraid we may get a blizzard," Captain Scott wrote on Nov 23, 1911 - "I hope to goodness it is not going to stop one marching; forage won't allow that."

Modern horsemen from The Long Riders Guild pointed out that meat based meal for the horses as used by cold climate horse tribes (and Shackleton) would have helped in addition to snowshoes (which Scott had but left behind).

Antarctica/SP - General facts:

Gateway port Cape Town, South Africa:
To ALCI/TAC base camp Novolazarevskaya / Novo
(70o 46'37S", 011o 49'26"E)
Gateway port Punta Arenas, Chile, South America:
To ALE/ANI base camp, Union Glacier
(79o 45'S, 083o 14'W).
Gateway port Punta Christchurch, New Zealand:
To US base McMurdo
(77o 50'39"S, 166o 40'22"E)

1 nautical mile (nm) = 1.852 km
1 nm = 1.151 statute mile
1 knot = 1.852 km/h
1 degree of Latitude is 110 km

Sastrugi are hard snow bumps and can be as high as 10 feet.
A nunatak is a peak of a mountain rising above the ice cap; sometimes covered with snow, sometimes exposed rock.

Useful links:

CONTACT 5 expedition technology
HumanEdgeTech
Polar rules of Adventure
What is solo?
Hercules Inlet start point
2011-12 Guidelines for NGO Visitors to the South Pole Station
South Pole Station news (Bill Spindler)
Antarctic Logistics and Expeditions (ALE)
Adventure Network International (ANI)
The Antarctic Company (TAC/ALCI)

Weather:

Weather4Expeditions
Wx7 observations at Union Glacier

Amundsen's & Scott's diaries
Amundsen's book, "The South Pole"
Amundsen's diary courtesy Fram Museum
Amundsen pix, courtesy Fram Museum
Scott's diary

List of Links to Antarctica 2011-12 teams
Classifications: Unassisted (no airdrops), unsupported (no kites/dogs/motor).

Hercules Inlet

Unassisted, unsupported:
Australian James Castrission and Justin Jones (Cas & Jonesy - return)
Aleksander Gamme, Norway (solo)
Steffen Dahl, Norway (solo)
Mark Wood, UK (solo)
Albert Bosch and Charles Gel, Spain (Catalans)
Mark George, Australia (solo)

Assisted (airdrops):
ANI Polar Vision US/UK
Polar Explorers
Byrony Balen (With PolarExplorers)
Johan Ernst Nilson


Bay of Whales and Cape Evans

Unassisted, unsupported:
British Army Scott-Amundsen Race 2011-12 - Amudsen team led by Henry Worsley from Bay of Whales

British Army Scott-Amundsen Race 2011-12 - Scott team led by Mark Langridge, from Cape Evans

Assisted (airdrops), supported (kites)
Norwegians from Bay of Whales

Ross Ice Shelf

Unassisted, unsupported:
The South Pole Jubilee Expedition - latitude Expeditions
The South Pole Jubilee Expedition - Borge Ousland & Lars Ebbesen Polar Exploration
The South Pole Jubilee Expedition - Correne Erasmus-Coetzer
The South Pole Jubilee Expedition - Rory O'Connor
The South Pole Jubilee Expedition Ottar and Jacob

Assisted (airdrops)
From Nansen to Amundsen 2011, Norway
Felicity Aston, UK (solo SP & assisted traverse)

Ronne-Filchner Ice Shelf

Unassisted, unsupported:
Richard Weber & team (kite traverse)
Hvitserk, Norway

Supported (kites):
Howard Fairbank, South Africa (solo SP)

Assisted (airdrops), supported (kites)
Pole to Pole Run Pat Farmer
Pole to Pole Run Eric Philips
Charlie Paton & ANI team
Nabil Al Busaidi (Nabs)

Novolazarevskaya

Supported (kites):
Dixie Dansercoer and Sam Deltour
Eric McNair-Landry and Sebastian Copeland
Basque Team: Iurrategi, Vallejo, Zabalza

South African Antarctic Research station, SANAE IV

Supported (kites):
Armand Wirth and Dieter Staudinger

Partial SP trips: 1-2 last degrees

Borge Ousland
The South Pole Push Doug Stoup
Humpty Dumpty South Pole Last Degree (Damien Guildea)
Harald Kippenes (with. J.E.Nilson)
Adventure Consultants: Vinson+Last degree
ANI/ALE last degree
One Call Wintercamp

Motorized support

Thomson Reuters Eikon
Arctic Trucks on Antarctica

Scott's last camp

International Scott Centenary Expedition
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