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PROGRESS
DAY CHART
DAY
21: PICKING UP SPEED AT LAST!...
Sat, 11 Feb 2006 // 17:05
Quote of the Day:
'Would love to send you some
photos but with this temperature it is not only the
hands that don't want to work but also the equipment -
everything tends to stop working around - 40°C...'
DATA LOG
Latest position: N82°38'32' E105°35'10'
Temperature: -36°C
Mike calls at 15h30 sounding very happy: 'We
had a great day. We walked our average 9.5 hours and
advanced 17 kms. The winds have calmed down and are now
from the North East. We have unfortunately stopped our
northward drift for the time being, but this is okay as
long as we are not drifting southwards!!!
It's now exactly three weeks that we have been walking,
and as we expected on the 82°latitude, the ice is
finally getting better. There is still a lot of pack ice
but we are managing to find our way around it rather
than having to go over it. We are also coming across
some open areas. After these few days of very cold
weather the leads are completely frozen and are solid
enough to walk over without the fear of breaking
through. Also with the more food we eat and the more
fuel we burn our sledges are also slowly but surely
getting lighter.
We are now beginning to see more during the day. There
are several hours of twilight in the middle of the day,
and the moon is almost full. Behind us is a magnificent
glow on the horizon, which unfortunately, we are walking
away from. We are beginning to distinguish the contours
and contrasts in the ice well enough to choose a good
path.
My fingers are pretty painful in this extreme cold and
are my main preoccupation at this time. I have changed
my gloves, am taking aspirin daily to thin the blood and
an occasional vasodilator to help get the blood
circulating. This seems to being helping for now.
Would love to send you some photos but with this
temperature it is not only the hands that don't want to
work but also the equipment. Everything tends to stop
working around - 40°C.
I'll have to keep you up to date with my phonecalls for
the time being. Luckily the phone works still!
Best regards to you all!'
Mike
DAY
23: HEAVY PACK ICE YET AGAIN!
Mon, 13 Feb 2006 // 14:58
Quote of the Day:
'The sledges are slowly
getting lighter and we are certainly noticing the
difference but unfortunately they are also sticking to
the snow today. Even on the downhill they are not
slipping...'
DATA LOG
Latest position: N82°57'50' E104°53'10'
Distance to go: 786km
Temperature: around -30°C
TOUGH DAY HAULING 120KG SLEDGES OVER BLOCKS OF ICE...
Mike and Borge experienced slightly warmer temperatures
throughout the day (-28°C in the morning dropping to
-35°C in the evening) and with virtually little to no
winds. This meant that the conditions were a lot less
harsh than their previous days.
Heavy pack ice once again encumbered their path and no
getting around it this time! They struggled with their
heavy sledges (around 120kgs each) hauling them over the
blocks of ice the entire day.
'The sledges are slowly
getting lighter and we are certainly noticing the
difference but unfortunately they are also sticking to
the snow today. Even on the downhill they are not
slipping!
We have walked right into a compression zone, which
seems to last for as far as the eye can see. We're
hoping to move out of this vast area of pack ice soon
because it really does slow down our progress a lot.
That's why we only managed to move 14 km today.
We are well but are both tired. If things continue like
this we'll be able to take a rest day in 5 days time,
which will be our second since the beginning of the
expedition.
Borge's taking medicine for his knees and me
vasodilators for my hands. I have a little bit of frost
nip on my fingers, which is pretty normal under these
circumstances. My sore hands do tend to hold me back
somewhat because I am unable to carry my skis. This
means I may need to double track to recuperate equipment
on the other side of the blocks of ice.
Our position today is N82°57'50" and E 104°53'10".
We are getting closer to the 83rd latitude and are
786kms from the North Pole!
It's getting lighter and lighter. Just think, in a about
3 or 4 more days we might even be able to turn our
headlights off for an hour!!'
Best regards,
Mike
LATEST AUDIO FROM MIKE:
Click
here to listen to full audio:
'After our 23rd day on the
ice, things are looking much better than about two weeks
ago. At this stage things are going a little bit better,
the weather has warmed up and hopefully we can make good
progress. There is a full moon and that gives us a lot
of light on the ice, although we still progress with our
headlamps 24 hours a day. The ice has turned in to pack
ice simple because of compression zones, and we're
slowly but surely working our way through them. Our
morale is 100% and there is not much wind at this stage,
that makes it possible to make very good progress.'
DAY 22: 20KM ADVANCED - 'OUR RECORD YET!'...
Yesterday (Sunday) was a record breaking day for the
walking duo as Mike reports:
'Another day of walking and we
advanced 20kms - our record yet!!
We stopped at N82°49'10' E105°10'25' which means we
have 802 kms to go until we arrive at the North Pole.
It's great to see that we are gradually getting closer
to the Pole. We'll sleep this evening and expect we will
drift 2 km north throughout the night. Sleeping is
virtually impossible in these temperatures but at least
we'll have more peace of mind tonight!
When I do sleep I am dreaming about eating those
chocolate coated marshmallows - not exactly sure what
they are called, but give me a dozen and I promise I eat
them straight away! Borge is longing for blueberry
pancakes and sour cream - must be a Norwegian thing!
After being deprived of normal life for a while it's
funny what you start thinking about when you are out
here in this harsh environment.
We are still hoping for milder temperatures. It surely
can't get any colder than this! Both my thumbs have a
touch of frost nip. It's nothing serious, just a little
painful. We are still taking every precaution possible -
you must in these conditions.'
Mike
JARGON BUSTER
Compression Zone: an area of compression at the
base of a slide path where terrain steepness decreases.
This zone is concave in profile, and subject to
gravitational pressure from the snow above.
www.avalanche.org
Vasodilator: an agent, such as a nerve or hormone
that widens the blood vessels, which in turn decreases
resistance to blood flow and lowers blood pressure.
Encarta
World English Dictionary
Pack ice: frozen blocks of sea ice, broken up and
of variable size and thickness, some pieces can be the
size of a coffee table and about 1 foot (30cm) thick,
other pieces are larger than a tennis court and can be
30ft (9m) or more thick.
www.coolantarctica.com
DAY
24: IN AND OUT OF THE PACK ICE...
Tue, 14 Feb 2006 // 16:33
Quote of the Day:
'Milder temperatures today,
around -27°C without the windchill and -40°C with...'
DATA LOG
Latest position 13.2.06: N82°57'50' E104°53'10' (no
position received today)
Distance to go: 769km
Temperature: -40°C with windchill
Wind speed: 20km/hour
Mike rings at 1600hrs to report about his day:
'We were in and out of the
pack ice again today, but we still managed to do
15-16kms. We have a slight NE drift with southerly winds
at 5-6metres per second (20km/hour) and blowing snow.
Luckily for us the winds blew away the snow so it was
not as deep as it was yesterday. The sledges were more
willing to follow us today. Milder temperatures today.
Around -27°C without the windchill and -40°C with.
We're preparing our dinner now. It's so good to get hot
food into your stomach at the end of the day.
HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!!'
Mike
DAY
25: RECORD DAY FOR DISTANCE - 27KM!
Wed, 15 Feb 2006 // 16:21
Quote of the Day:
'I'm more prone to freezing my
nose than Borge it seems, I guess because of my 27 month
expedition around the Arctic Circle! It is already
starting to turn black on the tip and around the
nostrils...'
DATA LOG
Latest position: N83°21'54.5' E104°05'19.4'
Distance to go: 741km
Wind: 22mph SE winds
Drift: NW ice drift of around 0.3mph
Today Mike and Borge did their record day for distance -
27 km! (previous record was 20km on Day 22):
'Everything was in our favour
today. We were very fortunate to have a NW drift of 0.3
to 0.6 km /hr helping us in the right direction and the
sledges were sliding beautifully on the thin layer of
fresh snow. Now that we are on the 83rd latitude we are
seeing the difference in the ice. Today the ice packs
are thicker and are pressing hard against one another. A
few days ago the ice was thinner and under pressure the
ice would break up creating huge mounds that we needed
to climb over.
At the moment we are experiencing southeasterly winds at
10 metres per second (22mph). We are expecting soon that
the winds will turn from the north. It will not be very
good for us if it does because we will have once again
the problem of the head-on wind freezing our noses. I'm
more prone to freezing my nose than Borge it seems, I
guess because of my 27 month expedition around the
Arctic Circle! It is already starting to turn black on
the tip and around the nostrils. We will probably most
likely wait for those harsh head-on northerly winds for
our next rest day.
It is important for us now to move while we can. We
believe that if we continue with an average of 20kms a
day we'll have enough food rations to see us to the
North Pole but we prefer to be cautious and are saving
three extra days for the 'just-in-case'.
741 kms to go ! It's getting closer!'
Mike
For latest news on Mike and Borge go to: www.mikehornnorthpole.com
WEB LINKS
Sign up for updates on Mike's progress on his North Pole
Winter Expedition at www.mikehornnorthpole.com
Click
here to view Mike & Borge's latest position on
Google Earth. To download Google Earth click
here ( PC and Mac OS X 10.4 only).
For further information on Mike Horn contact:
Josie Robinson
T: +44 (0)870 063 0210
E: josie.robinson@ocgroup.com
MIKE HORN PERSONAL DETAILS
Age: 39
Nationality: South African resides Switzerland
Status: Married to Cathy, two children aged 11 and 12
MIKE HORN'S PHILOSOPHY:
'The drive to go beyond our physical, mental and
spiritual limits is an internal attitude that transcends
global borders. It tests our personal limits and opens
the way for new levels of achievement in all aspects of
life. This philosophy is the driving force behind every
endeavour.
Although I find myself in the most extreme
circumstances, I always use caution. My philosophical
approach is to live the endeavour as an expression of my
being. Alone, immersed in nature, with no creature
comforts, to surpass the limits imposed by man and
nature itself. With faith and determination, one can
embody the purest expression of this philosophy.'
ARCTIC
AND ANTARCTIC EXPLORATION LINKS:
Ernest
Shackleton
Roald
Amundsen
Scott
of the Antarctic
Nelson
Kruschandl: We're with you all the way.
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