DISPATCHE 8 : January 4 to 9

Tuesday 09January : A day from another world at the ends of the Earth

Ever since Hubert's expedition has been moving in that virgin universe of such mind-blowing beauty, we have been trying, even if at times it has meant overburdening the pages a little, to publish photographs that dreams are made of. As we are not yet set up for video, this is the only way open to us for allowing those of you who are interested in this world and in polar adventure to indulge your dreams a little.

This week therefore is going to be the week of your dreams. On the one hand, we will have at our disposal narratives like the one we are publishing today (from the expedition photographer), and on the other, now that the suspense of the summit is behind us, our numerous visitors will have the opportunity of pondering less feverishly and more deeply on the thoughts and reflections that the polar environment inspires. May those of you who feel inspired by so much beauty feel free to write to us. We will publish, "live" on this page, the best snippets…

MAY THOSE WHO FEEL INSPIRED BY SUCH LANDSCAPES AND BY SUCH BEAUTY WRITE US A FEW LINES ON THE ANTARCTIC THE BEST SNIPPETS WILL BE PUBLISHED "LIVE" HERE ON THIS PAGE Write to us

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile, here are the impressions of the expedition photographer, René Robert, of the environment all around him (in view of his profession, he is obviously well qualified to speak of the general atmosphere of the place and the light it is bathed in night and day):

"Here André and Alain continue to achieve a first each day: it's superb: as for me, I like walking, I'm not too anxious to climb, preferring to enjoy myself through contemplation and photography. Everything is beautiful here and you have to be patient to catch the best moments. There are times when things are so beautiful… Yesterday, for example, we went a fair distance with André and Alain, about fours hours on skis, in overcast weather. Suddenly, the sky cleared, leaving clouds that looked like they were from another world… The further we went, the more superb the landscapes we were discovering. I was so moved by such beauty that there were tears in my eyes. When Hubert joined me, I realised that he was in the same frame of mind as I. There are times when you ask yourself where you are…what you are… Is all this going to come to an end one day?

Furthermore, by ferreting about a little, I found some absolutely superb lichen, some the colour of orange saffron in the form of moss spread over a few meters, other like a light grey petal a few centimetres wide. Then there was some that looked like hollow green grass growing on small black pebbles. Incredible, this life that defies the laws of cold. I took a whole series of extraordinary photographs of blazes of lichen there. Seven films in all, until the last picture on the last roll of film, so beautiful was everything around me. 07 January 2001: I'll remember this date for a long, long time. Even while writing this note, the emotion is still with me. How lucky we are to be here! Moreover, as you can imagine, for a photographer these mountains are pure paradise."

Apart from aesthetic considerations, some news of the climbers. Hubert and Georges are not very talkative these last few days. That's understandable: every day they leave the camp early in the morning - sometimes even, Hubert has to chase after his old chum Georges who has left ten or so minutes before him - and go round the Fenristunga cirque to pick off the virgin summits one by one. First after first, they climb, flirt with the granite, gobble up hundreds of metres of granite, discover summits, and contemplate the Antarctic. To cut a long story short, they are in the process of constructing a small slice of their lives that will never fade from their memories and that will only belong to the two of them.

Quiet, please, action…!!

Friday 05 January : The adventure and the climb continue

Some well-deserved rest was in store for the climbers of The Wall when they descended from the south summit of the Holtanna. Three of the members of the expedition (Daniel Mercier, Ralf Dujmovits and Jorge Lübbert) took advantage of the Twin Otter flight that had come to take panorama shots over the Holtanna before returning to Blue One. Ronald Ross went with them to check the weather station that he had set up at Blue One a month earlier, but he is due to return to the Orvin Mountains in a few days time.
It had in any event been agreed that these three men would be leaving the expedition once the summit had been reached. Professional commitments.

Be that as it may, the men of The Wall will not be out of work. Today, or tomorrow, after their well-earned rest, they are going to attack other summits, which are certainly less difficult, in this Fenristunga cirque.

Here is what Hubert has written about the continuation of the operations.

"Rest for these two days. If that's what you can call it, because I have given some television and radio interviews. We also went to dismantle and bring back the equipment at the foot of the stoop… Really hard work!

But what a lovely course this south stoop is! Scoring 6b and A2-A3 (EDinf scoring) on an entirely original rock, a very beautiful line and an extremely involved climb. As from tomorrow we will be attacking the 4-5 summits of the Fenristunga cirque in alpine style. We will then go to set up the second weather station (the first will be staying at Blue One) on the summit of the Mundlauga (2450m), which is some 6 km from here; two or three days work - hardly more.

After which, while Ronald, Alain and Kate will stay to attend to their occupations here (including an advanced study of two nunataks covered with different types of lichen, we'll talk about that in a few days), we will set off for a 7-day trek on the plateau in order to carry out the glaciological work that has to be done in three 2-metre deep bore holes in order to refine the method of photographing snow crystals.

We are also going to meander in a possible meteorite area and climb, as we go, a peak of the highlands situated to the east of the Holtanna highlands (in all, some 100 km). Once back to the base camp: exploring crystals, sailing, and a bit more climbing before returning, on foot, to Blue One. There the team will split up.

I shall be going on with René and Ronald to the South African base, Sanae, and then to the German base, Neumayer, from where I shall be boarding the famous icebreaker, Polarstern, which will be taking the three of us to Punta Arenas.
Again, Happy New Year to you all, and thank you for your numerous e-mails...."