| Solo South Pole 2006 (Hannah Mc Keand on the trek Hercules-SP solo and unsupported) |
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January 7th 2007
Hannah McKeand has reached South Pole on December 28th. Although she remains quite modest in her daily update about her performance, one must say that this british woman has broken by more than two days the previous speed record established in January 2004 by her compatriote Fiona Thornewill - who herself had beaten at that time Rosie Stancer's previous 44 days record. Hannah has done the distance in 39 days 9 hours and 33 minutes...
Since then, she was brought back to Patriot Hills by ALE Twin Otter. There, everyone is awaiting the Illyushin 76 coming from Punta Arenas. But the russian plane had problems because of heavy squalls and has to be repared. The staff there is waiting for spare parts which have to be sent by Moscow! So it's possible that all the travellers gathered at Patriot Hills who are longing to go home might be obliged to stay ont he ice a little longer.
In the meantime, here are some excerpts from Hannah's diary published on January 6th :
" Well, it's been just over a week since the Twin Otters came to collect me and the other teams from the South Pole. But I am still on Antarctica. At first the issue was simply windy weather, which prevented the Illyushin 76 from getting in to collect us, but on the 3rd we received the news that the big plane had suffered some damage in high winds at Punta Arenas airport and was now in need of repairs. The part would need to be brought from Moscow and the whole fix might take up to five days. Well, the latest is that the part is arriving in Punta today and the plane should be operational by sometime tomorrow. The great thing is that it has stayed consistently windy here in Patriot Hills and we have not missed a single flyable slot due to the damaged plane. So although the delay must be frustrating to the ALE management and also those clients waiting in Punta to fly onto the ice, but in fact the delay is no more than one should be prepared to expect from a prolonged period of Antarctic fickle weather.
Things here in camp, stranded, isolated in one of the remotest places on the planet are, as you might imagine, pretty desperate. There is some concern about the food supplies. The grim truth is that we are nearly down to the last ton of fillet steak, the thick cut smoked salmon will run out within a month unless we resign ourselves to only eating it at lunchtime and the beer has run out, forcing the whole camp to drink wine, champagne or port in the evenings. Many of the icebound refugee's are suffering the severe effects of overeating (distended stomachs the need to nap after meals) and the medics fear that supplies of indigestion medicine could run out.
During the day the forlorn castaway's of Patriot Hills do their best to keep their spirits up by hiking in the breathtaking hills, skiing and tobogganing on the slopes of Windy Pass, taking skidoo trips out to various sites of interest, building igloos, learning to kite ski, baking various patisserie style delicacies and playing a fiercely fought ping-pong tournament. At night the Indian Navy entertain as with singing and guitar playing and Sam Silverstein from the American Antarctic Mountaineering Expedition 40th Anniversary team writes and performs comic songs and poems for our amusement.
There is also lots of other interesting activity to keep us diverted. We have been visited by two Russian MI8 helcopters and their crews, who appear to be enjoying their stay so much they don't want to leave, in fact they are awaiting passengers to take to the Pole, but they too are waiting in Punta with their fully functioning An74 which is also unable to fly in due to the windy weather.
Truly, things are tough! If they don't get us out of this winter wonderland soon, I just don't know what we're going to do! I can tell you now, if I have to give up one of my mattresses to the Russians I may be going out for some time!
December 29th 2006
On December 27th Hannah was camping at only 14.5 nautical miles from the Pole. By now, she must have arrived at the Pole (no cnonfirmation has been published yet on her website), meeting with the Royal Navy guys who are awaiting there for good northerly winds to start their trek back to Patriot Hills using powerkites.
Her position on December 27th : 89° 456 S / 82° 034 W.
December 21st 2006
Who ever said that the Antarctic polar plateau was flat ? Of course, nothing quite new with this frequently asked question. But this time, again with the writings of the british explorer, one can understand better and better realize the view of these icy monsters! Here are few lines taken from her update of the December 20th diary :
"Just after lunchtime I started descending a short, steep slope, and found shapes as big as small houses looming out of the dim light", she writes. "Just as I reached the bottom the sun broke through a little more and the first words to escape my lips all day was an extremely rude one. Suddenly I could make out my surroundings, it was like I had skied into a war zone. The sastrugi were giant blocks and chunks the size of cars and buses, flung about in piles and covering the whole surface. In between were aggressive ridges and trenches and here and there big smooth icy moguls popping up out of the devestation like sand dunes. It stretched away as far as I could see in all directions. I was horrified, once again the crevasse alarms were going crazy, but there was nothing to do but get on with it. ... "
Nevertheless
Hannah is progressing well in spite of the fact that she is doing now an average of 15 nautical miles instead of the 18 she used to perform some days ago. She even thinks that she could well catch up the Royal Air Force team whose tracks are visible on her way from time to time.
Her position on December 21st : 87.5508S / 082.2882W
Decembre 17th 2006
Everything is OK for Hannah who is more and more implicated into her own adventure - averaging more than 17 nautical miles daily.
And every day, she keeps writing quite facinating pieces of updates. This time she decribes in detail every single moves she does every morning, between the moment when she opens the first eye until the one when she looks back to make sure nothing has been left on the camp. Here is her abstract :
"The morning time flies away so fast, I am almost caught out every day. First I have a pee in my pee pot (if you're screamish, then sorry, but it's cold out there and there's no one to see) and at the same time prepare two pieces of loo paper that go into my wind pants pocket for later in the day. Then I put on my socks and light the stove. I have already melted my water last night, so I only have to heat it up to prevent it freezing too much through the day. While the water is doing I put on my wind pants, watch, harness and boots. There are also two stuff sacks that are always in the tent with me, my tent bag and my personal bag. Eye mask, electronics, down socks and spare fleece get shoved into the personal bag. And the packet of Pemikan I have on the go comes out of the tent bag. I don't have a plate, I eat my freeze dried meals out of the bag, so I put a third of a packet of pemikan into last night's bag and and a small about of hot water to break it down into a soup. While it's stewing and I try to syc (sp?) myself up to eating the foul mess, the charging cable is pushed out through the roof of the vestibule and the stove and bit come into the tent, now switched off. I zip up the vestibule and eat the pemikan. Every mouthful makes me retch so I have a glug of water after each one to wash it down which also serves to keep me well hydrated. I don't have a mug so I drink straight out of the saucepan.
Once the pemikan torment is over I put the stove and bottle, now cool, away in the tent bag with the saucepan. And stow the board and my chart away in my little tent chair. I then let the air out of my thermarest and roll it up tight with my foam mat and secure the roll with straps.
Finally I set up my Ipod in my ears, apply lip salve, put on my polar buff neck tube thing that comes right up over my head, put on my goggles and face mask, which now has a slightly unpleasant smell, put on my windstopper hat, my gloves, my parker jacket with the fox fur trimmed hood and my down jacket over the whole lot.
Then i'm off. I unzip the back of the tent and chuck everything outside. I clamber out and my feet always prick and sting in horror as I stand up on them for the first time in the day. I pack everything into the pulk, everything always goes in the same place, sleeping mats and sleeping bag at the back where I sit, food and fuel in the middle, day bag, clothes and down jacket at the front where I can get at it. Then I attack the tent, it comes down in a matter of minutes these days. The poles are all taped together except for a couple of breaks on each pole, which means I can leave the poles in and roll the whole thing into a big bundled sausage that is the length of the pulk. It is rolled up and placed in last with my shovel on the very top in case I have a call of nature through the day.
Then I take off my down jacket and stow it in the front, secure all the pulk straps, switch on my Argos beacon, clip my trace to my harness, put on my skis, take a bearing with my GPS and set off for the day. After 50 yards or so I always pause and look back to make sure Nothing has been left and only a little disturbed snow betrays that I was ever there, in a few weeks, there will be no sign at all..."
Her position on December 16th : 86° 520 S / 82° 122 W
December 12th 2006
After the sastrugis fields she had to negociate a few days ago, Hannah McKeand is now facing days of white out and soft snow rather difficult to ski. But let's listen to what Hannah has to tell us about what happened to her on December 9th : "Indeed, everything was going perfectly... That is until mid afternoon when I stopped for a rest break, opened the front of my pulk, put on my down jacket, reached for my day bag containing food and water bottles.... only, it wasn't there. "Oh Hannah!" I exclaimed in utter dismay, "Oh Hannah, Hannah, Hannah! No, no, no!" I new immediately what I'd done, somehow, I had left it at the last rest break, 2.38nms behind me. I had to get it. I didn't bother to stress or get upset, I just turned straight round and started skiing back north as fast as I could go. Sure enough an hour later I came to my bag sitting all alone and forgotten by itself in the snow. Cursing my stupidity, I snatched it up, gobbled down some of its contents, and set off south again as fast as possible..."
December 11th : 14.9 nautical miles
December 10th : 16.9 nautical miles
December 9th : 19.6 nautical miles
Decembre 7th : 15 nautical miles
December 6th: 14.4 nautical miles
Decembre 5th : 15.3 nautical miles
Her position on Decembre 11th : 83°312 S / 81°525 W.
December 4th 2006
Hannah is suffering but she goes on and on...
In one of our previous communiqué, we have written
that she had difficulties to eat her butter and crackers in the morning before departure. Well she was not long to take a decision : she has choosen to prepare for her daily breakfast a hot and greasy soup with pemmican instead. It is as bad as the combination butter/crackers, she said, but at least, this food slips down. In addition, at each draught, she tells herself how good it is for her.
Having said that, Hannah enjoys more and more talking to the BBC journalist who interviews her almost every morning.
Another point has become important in this story : since a couple of days, Hannah doesn't seem to try to escape from her own adventure anymore like she did a few days ago (see our communiqué of December 1st). "It is strange how absorbed I am now by this surreal landscape and my movement through it", she writes."Thoughts of the world beyond it seem very remote and unreal. Like everything else is the product of rich imagination and that the only true reality is here. As such, I'm losing any sense of the journey ending, this routine of moving, eating and sleeping, is simply what I do, and there is some peace to be found in this resignation, not happiness, not despair, just acceptance and a sense of belonging..."
More : she is not anymore suffering from her ankles and heels and doesn't have to take painkillers all day long. In short, she feels more and more being in harmony with herself : "I'm feeling more at peace out here", she writes on November 30st. "I know the wind is going to blow again and things will be up and down, but if I just keep on pushing one ski out in front of another maybe, just maybe I can do this..."
December 1st, 2006
What an interesting diary this female adventurer is writing !
Like she did a few days ago when she exposed on the web her inner feelings about being there on the ice to make a solo record to SP, these days, she is communicating her daily life so that we really understand what she is experiencing all the way on this lonely ice down there.
In the same time, we are a bit anxious about the unfolding of the days to come. First, she still suffers from her heels and ankles although she takes painkillers every day. After one hour of walking-skiing, she starts suffering again. "
I spent last night repadding my heels and patching my boot inners to give them even more protection, she writes, "but by the end of my first march I was already in pain. This is so annoying, as I am feeling good in all other respects and should be flying along, but instead I find myself hobbling. I resorted to painkillers for the rest of the day and that may just be what I will have to do for now." Second, she seems to have some difficulties to eat the indispensable fat and high calorific breakfast. "I don't have any appetite. I hate porridge, so I'm supposed to be eating crackers and butter first thing. Well, every morning I scowl at the butter and nibble the crackers, I have to wash down every mouthful with water, it is a pitiful business. The nicest food I have with me is my freeze dried
dinners, I wonder if I should eat those for breakfast in the mornings instead? Third, she does not seem either to have entered the inside reality of her trek so far : "Over and over and over. I don't think about it at all, the landscape has no meaning, I feel utterly in limbo, like a factory worker, my brain is somewhere far, far from here. It's better this way at the moment, otherwise I would be quickly overwhelmed..." Fourth, she seems to attach more importance at the interview she gives to BBC Radio Berkshire almost every morning than at the fact that she has to get up fast, pack up quickly and be asap on the move !
But of course all this make this female solo expedition quite fascinating. Can you imagine that between two teams fighting against time and ice down there and almost racing, one is sending poems to the other ? Well, here is the few lines the Kiwis Jamie and Fizgerald of Thermal Heart have sent to Hannah :
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"Jamie and Kevin are our names,
Toug Kiwi men on tough Kiwi games.
To the South Pole is our latest adventure,
But Hannah McKeand has a tougher endeavour,
All alone walking across the chilly white ice.
We'll think of you loads, more than just once or twice.
Pulling that big, heavy, nasty, sled,
Sweat, fat and muscle is what you will shed.
We all know the method to stay in touch,
Texting is what we will do very much.
So now we know why you'll travel so fast,
You must make the Pole while your yummy fudge lasts.
You must do your best to beat us there,
Cause we'll eat all their food and drink all their beer.
So don't think you can't walk with it being so bleak,
As you are protected by your sexy nose beak.
So Hannah it's time to get out of bed,
Don't let that wind get into your head!!" |
November 26th, 2006
On November 24, Hannah (who is travelling solo) was on her sixth day of progression. Her position : 81° 204 S / 79° 577 W. Eveyrthing is going ok for the moment ; she is skiing between 9 and 11 hours a day, making between 14 et 15 nautical miles each day. Her rythm is to make a pause of 15 minutes every one hour and fifteen minutes of travel. Since November 19th, the day of her drop at Hercules Inlet, she has covered in all 69.8 nautical miles or 129.26 kms.
She has a small problem though : two days ago she
wrenched her ankle. "I think I ha pulled a tendon or a ligament where it comes down the front of my right shin and into my foot", she writes in her diary. "It is rather painful so I eventually stopped and strapped it up really tightly and took some Ibuprofen and painkillers, which got me through the day. I just hope it isn't going to be problematic in the long term..." Since then, she is obliged to use anti-inflammatory and analgesic drugs to reduce the pain.
November 16th 2006
Hannah is travelling around the station in order to exercise herself and check if everything is ok. Doing so and writing her diary, she gives us the most deep part of her intimate impressions about what she is living and about what she is going to live for the next few weeks.
She writes : "... I try to be honest in these dispatches, and sometimes that means letting you all see that I'm actually a big lazy coward underneath. No matter how hard I've worked to be here there is still this little tiny voice inside saying "Oh my God, please don't make me do this, please get me out of here." And today that little devil was definitely a little disappointed when my vital beacon started working again..."
November 13th 2006
Hannah was on the trip with the other expeditions, arriving in Patriot Hills on November 12. She is now training around the station before starting for her trek.
November 9th 2006
From her website :
And... Still in Punta.
We are all being very patient. The one thing we are sure of is that everything that can be done is being done, and we will be on that plane just as soon as is possible. Unfortunately, it is very hard to say when that might be.
To keep ourselves motivated we decided to go on another big walk today. Jamie decided to stay in, but Kevin and myself together with Ray and Jenny Jardine headed off to the hills. Ray and Jenny are a charming American couple who have also come down here to ski and kite to the pole and back, very sensibly they are doing it with several resupplies and I think they will have a really nice trip. This intrepid couple have been doing a big adventure every year for the last 30 years, including sailing round the world, rowing across the Atlantic, hiking for months into the Canadian wilderness, walking the Appalachian Trail and the Pacific Trail three times... and the list goes on, there is no stopping them! What an inspiration. You can see what they get up to at www.rayjardine.com
...
By the time we got all the way back into town it was 8pm and my legs were getting tired. I was thinking it would just be me, but when I asked the others they all said their legs were tired too so I felt a bit relieved. We have been up some pretty steep climbs, so I shouldn`t worry too much.
This evening I went out for dinner with some of the guys from ALE Ronnie Finsaas who is a chef extrodinaire and one of the best kite skiers in the world and Tim and Jim who are coming down to PH as field guides. Jim was on the first ever expedition from Hercules Inlet to the South Pole. Between them, these three had some great stories and we had a really nice evening.
Well, off to bed for me. Our next information call from ALE will happen in the morning and hopefully they will have good news for us!
