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It wasn't the batteries that were showing signs of weakness, as we intimated yesterday; the reason why the men had not called for the previous two days was simply because communication with the satellite (Iridium) wasn't getting through. Having said that, the battery recharge tests carried out have proved positive, so there is nothing more to worry about in that direction. Not
a lot of news to report under the Northern Lights of the Arctic since
the previous call (7th March); the surface of the pack ice is still
as bad as before and poor for skis and sledge runners, but the compression
zones (where the edges of the ice floes are forced upwards as they
jostle against one another) are already less high and the ground is
more stable. This leads us to believe that the condition of the terrain
should improve soon. On the other hand, the day before yesterday,
it snowed out on the pack ice (10 -> 40 cm), which has not made
it any easier for the two men to make progress.
Saturday
6 pm. In view of the elements that we have at the moment and
the calculations made this afternoon with the people in charge of
"Energy/batteries" for the expedition, we have reached the
conclusion that it must be a battery problem that has prevented the
men from getting in touch with HQ today. And yesterday.
Friday 5 pm : no satellite contact so far today...
Friday
8 am : as you can see on the animation opposite, some fascinating
features are being prepared. After that, there will be a fascinating text about the incredible controversy, which has raged for nearly a century between the partisans of F. Cook and those of E. Peary. Today, we still wonder who was actually the first man to reach the North Pole. Jacques Theodor, who wrote this feature, spent several months digging into this subject (which he has been interested in for years); he consulted various books and documents about this question. A publication that is definitely not to be missed ! It will probably be ready for Monday 18 March. Another forthcoming text is now ready : that written by Alain Hubert, who explains his training methods and his role as the expedition leader. Another subject: a journey to Mustang. As part of a rapprochement between the site and its readers (many thanks for all your messages, dozens of you write to us every day), we received a fine text from Guy and Anne Delforge who were able to visit Mustang, a remote region if ever there was one, and which was closed to visitors for many years.
The
men are in fine form. Alain was able to contact one of his doctor
friends; he wanted reassurance about his frostbitten fingers. During
the climb of the East Ridge of Ama Dablam in 1983 (a first) with André
Georges, Alain had third degree frostbite in all ten fingers - and
since then, his hands have been more sensitive to the cold.
Result of the consultation: nothing serious, but he needs to be very careful. The fact that the weather conditions are a little calmer (-25°C today) and that, as the days pass, the two men should no longer experience the appalling temperatures of the first few days, means they have reason to be more optimistic. We left a message on the voice mail of the doctor concerned, asking him to write a message for our site - which would, of course, be of great interest. We are waiting for him to answer. 
Having given you the latest medical report, the two Polar madmen are still wearing themselves out on awful terrain that could be described as muddy - or even marshy - if they were on terra firma. Today, the wind blew at 60 km/h, driving a substantial layer of snow across the recently formed ice; for that reason, the latter becomes less visible and harder to recognize with the naked eye: that slows down progress even more, and above all, makes it more dangerous.
Nevertheless,
despite the wind and the difficulties we have just mentioned, the
team covered 16.8 km between 10 a.m. and 5.30 p.m. (and with the westward
drift). That raised morale. The men are satisfied with their performance,
and feel that they have finally done a "good day's work"
in the last 24 hours. They are even more heartened by the fact that
the terrain is improving, and gliding was a little easier today.
6 March 9 am / Yesterday was a very scary day, as we gathered from the news over the satellite (Iridium) slot for the day; at around two in the afternoon, a large polar bear became very threatening and twice approached to within 20 metres of the two men. While
Dixie was filming what was going on, Hubert tried to frighten the
animal as much as possible. On the first occasion, he waited until
the bear was quite close to them (20 metres) before firing a first
shot, which did not frighten the bear particularly. It simply recoiled
a few steps, that's all, 4 or 5 metres at the most. When it "charged"
for the second time, the animal zigzagged towards them and Hubert
waited until it came even closer - around fifteen metres away, he
tells us - before firing a second shot. This time the penny dropped
and the huge polar mammal seemed to get the message, because it left
the spot where the men were and didn't come back.
The
expedition finally called in yesterday at 1.30 am. For one thing,
they had been too tired to call the previous day and for another,
the day of 5th March was truly very eventful. Events that we will
tell you about in more detail along with the daily report for 6th
March -at the end of the afternoon, as usual. But we can already tell
you that while the day before yesterday, 4th March, they were surrounded
by lots of water, yesterday, it was the polar bears that came to harass
them - and they got very, very close...
Yesterday, morale was high with the two men; today, they seemed rather overwhelmed with the enormity of what they are doing. The surface they are having to cross looks very much like a minefield over which skis and runners - them again - are finding the going very tough. Not to say impossible; Dixie and Alain have to manhandle the sledges together over the difficult parts, which of course makes three trips instead of one. Sure,
there is some flat terrain from time to time, which has also allowed
them to test their parafoils again and to reassure themselves that
when the ground finally lets them, they'll be able to fly like the
wind. And the wind is ideal, too: 30km/h from the right direction,
south-south-east. "Hell doesn't even come close..." were
Alain's first words during today's satellite slot (as a reminder they
are using the Iridium system). "An animal wouldn't do what we're
doing. It's as though someone has filled our sledges with bricks and
we're hauling them along country tracks to try them out... It's inhuman...OK,
we shouldn't complain too much - but all the same, we didn't expect
to have to work so hard... Having said that, my frostbite is a little
better, but I did have 7 fingers affected." Dixie has had some
problems with his feet, but they're also on the mend..."
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Sunday 10th March (day 14) : Coo-ee, they're back!
6
March 2 pm / 6th March 2 pm / The men are still experiencing great
difficulty in making progress over terrain that couldn't be worse.
For example: they arrive at a compression zone, which they more or
less manage to negotiate - it takes an hour or more of very hard work.
Then suddenly, without them realising it of course, they reach a small
dip in the ice, perhaps five or six metres deep. In the bottom of
the dip is a stretch of twenty to thirty metres of frozen water, but
the ice is not thick enough for them to get across. On the other side
is the same sort of steep bank, flanked by enormous sliding blocks
of ice complete with sharp, cutting edges. Then, when they finally
climb out after negotiating this particular difficulty, they find
more hummocks... More icy quagmire. Hmm, water... Do we go through
it, over it? Do we turn back to try and find a way round it? Don't
be silly! Not after all that hard work of the past hour. OK, let's
try and get through...They have to get through. And they do... Yesterday,
they crossed a channel over 500 metres wide. Today, as Alain jumped
on his sledge, which was already in the water, he sank up to his knees
in the water. "We've become like real cowboys,"
explained Dixie...
Our
thanks go to Dan Guravich for allowing us to use one of these photos
published elsewhere in our "