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DISPATCHE 13 : February 8th - 24th

Saturday, 24 February : Alain Hubert is back home.

It was snowday when Alain Hubert came back home.
He has to wait several days to see back the ... green color.

The time to develop the pictures, we will keep you inform in about one week and we will present you a picture gallery and the latest news of the expedition.

Thursday, 8 February : "In a year, almost to the day, the departure of the Great Arctic Crossing", explains Alain.

Once arrived at Neumayer, Hubert sent us a brief word. A kind of initial assessment of the expedition, and at the same time a leap into the future…

"We got to Neumayer OK. 60 hours in a tent waiting for the bad weather to pass… We had the return of the fine weather just in time for our arrival on the ice shelf: icebergs, penguins and so on… So nice… It was also the first time that we saw the sun set for a few hours. The colours are different, and it is all very beautiful. The weather was overcast again the next day and it was in a total whiteout that we crossed the last great area of crevasses that was between Neumayer and us.
Apart from that, the crossing of the ice shelf was without any crevasses. The welcome that the Germans afforded us was truly exceptional. We arrived at the time of the "Taking Over" evening: a party to celebrate moving from one team to another, an incredible buffet, well watered until the early hours of the morning.
We set up our tent at the end of a line of containers that house the teams of the summer season… Funny, it's a bit like a toy lorry when compared with our big lorries at home. But it kept the tent in place, luckily, because the storm has returned and the winds are expected to exceed 140 kph tomorrow. We are at the junction of two perturbations. They don't get to see much fine weather here.
In a word, we are taking advantage of it to discover the base and its scientific and logistical installations. This ice station is currently at a depth of 10 metres. Built in 1992, they hope to be able to keep it for another 10 years by raising the entry towers every other year. On the other hand, they have to raise the weather observatories, air chemistry, antenna and wind turbine every year … It's a model of technology.
As for the Polarstern, it is staying in the free water until the storm blows over (editor's note: see map graphic opposite), it will be arriving on Sunday and we shall be leaving immediately to get to Punta on the 22nd. We are actually invited and therefore the guests of the Germans here, which is a great honour for us little Belgians.
So this is the end of my Antarctic tour for another year. By the seaside and on the sea, but it is in the North of course that the next great expedition will commence in almost exactly a year from now!
This The Wall expedition was more varied and difficult to conduct that I would ever have imagined. Like even in an expedition that I had thought would be easier, there are always many unforeseen events. The month of December was more stressful in view of the very packed programme because of the fact that a part of the team had to leave at the beginning of January, whereas from the outset we were running late because of the late arrival of the plane. Then there was this question of safety raised by the mediocre quality of the rock of the assault on the North Stoop. The time therefore was going to be very short for climbing and reaching the summit on time for the departure of the others. So what should we do as regards the pictures that had to be shot, etc. So many questions to which we tried to find an answer, and through which I tried to assume my responsibilities as leader by taking a number of decisions on my own and by letting the group decide other orientations in order to keep everybody happy in the respective tasks that they had to accomplish. A challenge through which we didn't navigate too badly, I think. The summit of Holtanna was the first to be reached. And, even though the South Stoop is totally different in the type of ascent required, and that as a result we were going to be unable to use the portaledge camp and to climb as had been envisaged, we shared the work, preferring in the end the pictures of the first part of the stoop, which was not easy because of the rotation of the sun that that did not in any way correspond with our global hours. But the flexibility of Daniel and Ralph was able to chime with the patience of our photography and film crew. I would like to take this opportunity of thanking them.
The very day after New Year's Day, after having been able to contemplate the unfathomable grandeur of this continent from the summit in fine weather, we found ourselves orphaned from three members of the expedition who had to embark upon the second part of this adventure. The Educational Project started much later than envisaged and found itself to be out of kilter with the school timetable. Alain was going to have his work cut out and he applied himself with great assiduity, sacrificing almost every excursion from the base camp. We hope that we have been able to shed new light on this continent for the children and for everybody that has been following us. Katelijne, for her part, was devoted to trying to transmit information to HQ about this gang of savages that we are a little, no matter what one says, editing the pictures, and putting up with the occasional remark from the boss at the same time. In a word, a difficult job carried out little by little as the days went by.
Ronald in a sense never ceased to work on the weather stations with an astonishing meticulousness, guaranteeing, we hope, the outcome that will be reserved for this initial experiment.

The pebbles and the places for finding lichen (a part of the work for NASA) were the prerogative of Ronald, indefatigable, despite the endless comings and goings of the photographer in the quest for good light, etc. He brought a certain dynamism to the expedition. With André Georges, we discovered, at the beginning of January, the surrounding mountains. A kind of pilgrimage, a hundred years behind like at the time of the first ascents in Europe. A real moment of relaxation for me. After which, we went out on the ice shelf, a few bore holes to be dug, too short unfortunately, the end of the expedition was nigh, logistical problems that obliged some of our group to get to Blue One earlier…
Time passes too quickly at moments like this, but the imprimatur of this continent will forever leave its mark in our heads, it was, we believe, a unique experience. So now we are separated, some waiting to leave for Cape Town from Blue One, while René and I are about to embark on this extraordinary Polarstern, ready for a new adventure.
A huge thank you to all of you who have helped us to bring this adventure to its successful conclusion and to share it with the greatest possible number of people".
Alain Hubert