9
9
 
Week from 08 to 14 April
 


Sunday 14 April (day 49) : Ill throughout the night, and their troubles aren't over…

Even though we hear their voices almost every day by satellite (Iridium), even though we regularly receive e-mails via iPaq, it is difficult really to imagine what these two exceptional athletes are experiencing.

Yesterday, we learned that, against wind and tide, they continued to advance (the call was short); today, we were able to receive the latest news of the pack ice in rather more detail.

Alain and Dixie are still ill; Alain has a stomach ulcer and the sore is giving him terrible pain - especially when he pulls the sledge. Dixie, for his part, did not sleep and spent almost the entire night vomiting - serious indigestion. "It seems to me that I made a mistake", Alain confided to me, "because for the sake of a few milligrams, always trying to eliminate weight, I slightly increased the fat content of our daily food during its preparation with Arnaud Tortel. I think that it is these small grams of nothing that have made all the difference these last few days. I was obviously wrong…" One should add to this small medical assessment, the feet (Alain's) that are covered with leaking skins (moisture in the shoes all the time) and a knee (Dixie's) that is not working very well either.

Pen in hand, the table of the incredible distances that can be seen to remain to be covered (this Sunday evening, they are still 1,178km from the Pole) and, especially, the unending reversals at the coal-face which for 50 days have marked out the route of their adventure (these started with eight days of delay at departure), one might expect that the two rogues would weaken, lose their morale, take advantage of their rest and decide that the comedy had gone on long enough...

Well, no : 24 hours of rest were all they needed and, in spite of their crippling pains, they decided to resume the daily yoke and to accomplish as much work as they possibly could. Walking, always walking, pulling sledges and no longer thinking of anything - the Zen Attitude. Before envisaging the most favourable outcome of the adventure. because of course we are already in mid-April - and the decision bell will soon be ringing.

Thus, yesterday, in spite of a North Wind that blew head on during their 7 hours of progression, making the temperatures that were already less than freezing plummet still further (- 38°C in the evenings), they covered 6km and, today, likewise; 12 kilometres in two days. Knowing that, if the wind had been southerly or south-easterly as it usually is in this region of the pack ice and at this time of year, they could have made more than 30 or 40km of progress - the ice becoming, as indicated by the maps of the Russian researchers and the forecasts resulting from the observation of the terrain, definitively flatter...

It is in such conditions that Compaq Pole II continues...


Saturday 13 April (day 48) : No contact today...


Friday 12 April (day 47) : Our two Belgians are seeking refuge in the Zen Attitude...

A very short e-mail sent via iPaq (Compaq) at noon today, giving the day's position, a follow-up of a satellite message saying that they had indeed set out once more into that hellish pack ice and that Alain is better (no more stomach ache), but that they can't understand anything any more.

A drift that cost them at least 4km backwards today (8 km on the counter, whereas they had estimated that they had covered at least 12km), a North wind that prevented them from getting out their sails whereas, this time, the ground had never been so flat and unbroken since the beginning of their expedition. The cold which had its claws out, - 38° C this evening (7 hours time difference (+) between Brussels and the expedition), whereas it is already mid-April, the drift which goes in all directions, sometimes to the North, sometimes to the West, sometimes to the South... "But what the hell are we doing here?", Dixie shouted down the telephone… "It's crazy, everything's against us… We can't think of anything any more, we have only one choice, to seek refuge in the Zen Attitude…"

A ray of hope, however: the improvement of the ice that we noticed on the maps sent by our Russian friends (see our new close up map) is confirmed on the ground. It is well and truly effective. So, the miracle we're waiting for, will it come tomorrow ?

For a more global view and greater facility,
see our comparative table of expeditions
that are still under way, with direct access
to their websites and our follow-up pages.


Thursday 11 April (day 46) : Enforced rest day...

This was the first rest day of the expedition. But it was enforced, because Alain Hubert is ill. Vomiting, high temperature, sore throat and slight liver pains (with the fat that they are eating each day...). Nothing that serious for this extraordinary man. Because their pharmacy contains all the ad hoc medicines. And Hubert is familiar with this type of situation.

The main problem for them is not a slight temporary illness, but rather the fact that as they have stayed still today, effectively they have gone 3 km backwards: the drift, as ever. Yesterday, they were 1195 km from the Pole: this evening, they have to add three kilometres to that distance!
But tomorrow, they will definitely be on the move again.

A few last-minute items of information concerning the other Polar Arctic expeditions which are not going much faster than the two Belgians. A third expedition has had to give up: Mike Horn stopped his walk towards the Pole the day before yesterday, due to severe frost-bite on his fingers.
Click on the icon on the left for a summary, and the right icon to link to our special pages devoted to other expeditions (updates later in the day).
See also our comparative map of all the Arctic Expeditions


Wednesday 10 April (day 45) : No, they are not giving up ...

Contrary to announcements made in certain sections of the press, Alain and Dixie are far from giving up. It is true that they have had to re-define the objectives of their expedition and will continue to be disappointed about not having succeeded in making the crossing unassisted as originally planned.
To announce that they are giving up when the men have been having such a hard time for 45 days, when they are determined to make every effort to use up their 100 days' worth of food and attempt to reach the North Pole, when they are walking 8 hours a day like madmen, and today, for example instead of taking a day off due to Alain catching a bad cold yesterday, they have decided to continue walking and doing their everyday tasks, just shows a complete lack of understanding of adventure. The two will continue to slog away. Day after day, step after step, problem after problem. The idea of calling for help and being picked up by the Cerpolex infrastructure has never even crossed their mind.
That eventuality is even less topical after what they told us about today, and comparing their information with what we have heard from St. Petersburg about the state of the terrain (see our news, click below). Ahead of them lie a few tens of kilometres of flat ice and very little hummocking. "If I had been feeling better", says Alain, "during the six hours when we were moving ahead today, we could have covered the whole distance using the kites, because the terrain was level enough. But with this cold, I didn't want to risk it. We still have a long way to go".

Some optimism then, cold temperatures once again (-30°C), discomfort in Alain's sleeping bag (last night, he could feel the ice sheet melting under his thighs!), 6 hours' walk, going 1.5 km backwards during the night (drift), fine weather, marvellous scenery. Alain has swollen glands, while Dixie is in fine form and helping his companion.


While awaiting the satellite conversation today,
see our close-up map showing the position of the leads
in relation to the progress by our two men
(an interesting document based on satellite data
supplied to us regularly by the Ice Center /
Arctic and Antarctic Research Center (St Petersburg, Russia)


Tuesday 09 April (day 44) : They are going flat-out without thinking of anything else.

Bis repetita: even though Dixie and Alain are in great physical shape (Alain has lost quite a few kilos, nevertheless, but of course, he does not know exactly how many), and are in high spirits, they are still having to contend with the same darned ice terrain which is not improving. Today, they said briefly, the day was worse than ever, and the almost impassable ridges that they have to skirt around are alternating with ridges that can be crossed, but only with enormous physical effort. Fortunately, there is no open water. But they cannot see a clear horizon either, which would be a sign of a flatter ice floe more suitable for making progress.
8 hours' work, only 7 km on the counter, a temperature which goes down during the evening to -28° or -30°C, and which scarcely climbs above -22°C during the morning.
Nevertheless, they had time to admire the stunning beauty of the landscape with a sun half-veiled in a cohort of cirrus clouds and a mist that is as persistent as it is mysterious, floating a few metres above the ice.
"It's sheer madness",
said Alain. I wonder what is happening on this bloody ice floe. We don't actually know where we are any more. Never, in any of my previous expeditions, have I had to expend so much effort. It's a real nightmare!"

Here you can display the interview
antarctica.org had with French explorer-doctor Jean-louis Etienne
just before he left for his North Pole "Mission Banquise" Expedition

See the"The World on line" website
a co-production of the BBC World servce
PRI (Public Radio International) and WGBH, Boston
and listen the interview of
Dixie Dansercoer et Alain Hubert


Monday 08 April (day 43) : 8 hours to cover 11 km, the nightmare continues …

A seventh week of laborious progress, 43rd day of superhuman effort. Here at HQ, like a sizeable number of our visitors, we thought that there was light at the end of the tunnel, that the open water was gone from their route for good, and that our polar explorers would be able to breathe more easily. And move ahead faster. But today, as Alain Hubert and DixieDansecoer have told us, there is no choice but to accept that the fractures in the pack and the open water which is cracking it have reappeared in this symphony of infernal whiteness.

At about 11 a.m. Alain was pulling his pulka for all he was worth, when it suddenly fell through the surface into a lead of open water than the cabinet-maker had just crossed without noticing it! After the event, he had quite a fright, with his knees trembling and his face turning very pale. It was only his ski sticks that helped him avoid falling in too.

As today's conservation was curtailed due to the prevailing bad mood, we are publishing an initial situation review of this first phase of the expedition. This text was also included in our first Newsletter, which we send to those who cannot keep tabs on the exhibition via our site.

Here is the text of that report.

 

To display the previous follow up pages, click on the related week
below the button "Dispatches"


cliquez pour suivre cliquez pour suivre cliquer cliquer