Børge Ousland

Report from Børge: It has been a long day, but we had our hearts set on a special goal: the 89th degree latitude. We have skied 26 km today – Nils Thomas is in fine shape again, so we haven’t had any problems covering that distance.

Nevertheless it has been a challenge. A whiteout has kept is from being able to appreciate any of our magnificent Antarctic surroundings. In fact, we have had to fall back on use the wind as our sole means of navigation. That has been a bit wearing for me, since I’ve been out front the whole time, fully focusing on staying the course – and we’ve managed to keep it straight as a line.

Temperatures have been about –25˚C. We’ve had a bit of drama, too. Nick broke one of his skis. Inspection revealed typical signs of material fatigue, right behind the binding. Strangely enough that’s exactly where I broke my ski on last winter’s expedition, and it was the exact same make and model. Clearly there is critical weakness there.

Now we have to be careful – because we have no extra skis, other than the reserve that Nick is using now. We’ll just have to cross our fingers that other skis stay whole, although we have noticed early signs of breakage on one of Nils Thomas’ skis as well. Nevertheless we believe that they will last until we reach our destination.

Today it is Otto’s turn to send greetings – and he sends his love to Natalie and the children, as well as everyone in his family.

The position of our camp is S89˚00’50”, V96˚49’10”. Everyone here is doing great.

A broken ski – and not a sports shop in sight. A shared shout of joy at reaching S89˚.

Report from Svante: First, thanks for the good news from Patriot Hills.

Today has been a day of complete whiteout. What this means is that it’s impossible to see anything – the ground and sky are indistinguishable. Contrasts are non-existent, so you can’t tell before you hit a snowdrift, or whether you’re about to go up or down.

That is why – in order to point us South – I attached a thin strip of parachute silk to one of my ski poles. That way I could use the wind to keep my sense of direction. It worked really well, and our group did 13 km. Straight south.

We have entered an area where the terrain seems better, at least in terms of finding a new landing site for the aeroplane we’re expecting. According to the message from Patriot Hills, the prospects are good for being picked up within three or four days, and being flown closer to the South Pole.

Our feet have been itching to be on the move. So instead of waiting by the landing strip we had prepared, we have chosen to press on. Helen is in great form now and she’s back in her contagious good mood. Adrian is in good shape, too; he’s eating and feels well enough to ski again. This is looking very good. That’s all for today.

Report from Børge: The position of our camp is S88˚45’58”, W96˚23’V. Earlier today we ascended up to a kind of plateau, which is almost perfectly flat, without any of the unevenness we’ve passed through so far – and that means we’re picking up the pace. Today we covered 22 km in less than eight hours. And we’re very satisfied with that. We are right on schedule now.

For Nils Thomas, the first day of his 35th year has proved to be a hard challenge. He’s felt exhausted much of the day, but has pressed on. His breath is short, he feels a bit weak, and he strives to keep his fingers warm. These symptoms indicate that the altitude is taking its toll – even though he has been in excellent form so far. In fact Nils Thomas was pulling an extra load in his pulk, in order to relieve those who have had to struggle more.

At the end of today we were hit by a “whiteout”. We saw nothing. Under such conditions I use the direction of the wind as a navigational aid. I can also use the snow patterns the wind forms on the ground, and when there is some visibility, the sun. That works quite well. Actually we’re only using the GPS equipment to check our position in the evening.

Nick sends his best regards to his mother and father in Seattle. He says he feels in fine shape, and he’s doing great – he hasn’t had any sort of problem.

Svante’s group has to wait for better weather conditions before they can fly further south. They completed their runway today, but apparently have to exercise a bit more patience.

Report from Svante: After two hard days’ work we finally completed our very own runway! And this in an area with quite uneven terrain. It took five of us two full days to transform this into a suitable landing site.

At 5pm today, the Twin Otter made a touch and go – a test landing – before landing properly. These pilots are fantastic, and the landing was perfect. We had marked the start and end of our provisional landing area with green pulk covers, with green rubbish bags at 75 metre intervals indicating the sides. All in all we cleared a stretch of 400 metres of rather bumpy snow. The plan was that we would fly closer to the South Pole today, but the weather further south was highly unfavourable, with “white-out” conditions and danger of icing on the wings.

The most important thing is that we evacuated John to Patriot Hills, where there is a physician waiting. His face looked very good today, but his fingers were swelled because of fluids. The rest of us are relaxing in our tents now, and we expect him to be fine after medical treatment.

This has been a big day for all of us. We are, of course, exhausted after two days of intense digging – but we also feel great after having been able to help save John’s fingers.

Even at 70, John is one of the strongest expedition member,
and he gladly pulls more than his share to help out others.
It was most unfortunate that he got frostbite.

A handshake of thick mittens: Helen and Britt take a temporary farewell. “See you at the South Pole!”

We have found the best solution, all things considered – and that is to split our expedition into two groups of six people each. Svante will lead one of them, and I’ll lead the other. The main reason is to protect everyone’s health. Three expedition members have light frostbite; we need to take that seriously, for if they freeze again, they risk suffering deep and permanent damage to body tissue. Two other members are struggling with altitude illness. Here at 3000 metres above sea level, they are nauseous, vomiting, and feeling decidedly unwell. As a result it has been impossible for us to proceed at our planned pace – a pace which really is necessary.

Our plan is to fly Svante’s group to S89˚30’. That will give them the opportunity to conquer one degree latitude, including what we’ve skied together so far. The most important consideration, however, is that this will enable them to take it easy and proceed at a comfortable pace. They need to take care of each other, so as not to suffer additional frostbite or greater problems than they’re now dealing with.

Making a runway on the ice
The immediate challenge of Svante’s group is to make a level runway. It has to be long enough for the Twin Otter to be able to take off with six people and all their equipment. Yesterday’s campsite was surrounded by uneven terrain, so that posed a bit of a problem. But we finally managed to find a suitable spot and marked it for them. Svante is there now, level out the bumps and filling in holes and depressions. The plan is for the aeroplane to land tomorrow. There’s a flight headed for the South Pole tomorrow afternoon anyways, so Svante and his team will be “hitching” a ride.

The members of Svante’s group are Adrian, Andrew, Helen, Rudi and John.

Fortunately the frostbite on these fingers is mild. However, health
is the No. 1 priority – that’s why we’re splitting into two groups.

A correct decision
My group consists of Stefan, Britt, Nick, Nils Thomas and Otto. We have to ski an average of 18 kilometres per day, in order to reach the South Pole in time for the planned return flight to Patriot Hills. That is not an extreme distance, but quite average for expeditions up here on the plateau. But due to injury and illness, we haven’t been able to proceed at that pace with a full group.

Those who have joined me will walk a total of two degrees latitude. Today we covered 20 km in nine hours, and are content with that. Everyone feels in fine shape, have acclimatised well, and is managing a good, steady pace.

We are convinced that the decision we made this morning was both necessary and correct. We are confident that Svante’s group will have the runway ready, and are hoping tomorrow’s flight proceeds as planned.

Happy birthday!
We’re celebrating Nils Thomas’ birthday today. He’s wearing a big grin after receiving greetings from Trude and his kids, and sends his love back to those at home. Our position is now S88˚34’55”, W96˚30’58”.

In the days ahead you will be reading two reports here on the blog – one from each group of our expedition.

Hi, this is Svante reporting. As you know, we have decided to split the expedition. Børge has gone on ahead with half the team members, while the rest are with me.

My group consists of John, who has gotten relatively serious frostbite; Adrian has lighter frostbite and is suffering altitude illness; the altitude also bothers Helen; Andrew has frostbite, which does not look serious.

We have walked 8 km today, and have started work on the runway. We are counting on being able to fly out John tomorrow, and move our group closer to the South Pole.

Tomorrow we’ll continue the work on our runway, so as to make sure that landing conditions are optimal.

Tonight we are camped at S88˚23’53”, W95˚40’. It has been another short day, and that is because we have more instances of frostbite. The wind has died down, but temperatures have fallen to –30˚C. A couple of additional expedition members now have frostbite on fingers or in the face.

We are evaluating our situation and how best to handle it. The first consideration is that frostbite is serious – these are not so critical that we’re risking amputation, but with additional freezing, there is risk to the tissue. Another consideration is that we are simply moving a bit too slowly, with the number of stops we’re making and pitching camp earlier than planned. In other words, time is running away from us.

One alternative is to split into two groups. If we do that, we can fly one of them closer to the South Pole, while those who feel quick and fit continue from here.

I have a running dialog with the people in charge of air services here in Antarctica, as well as the physician in Patriot Hills. We will know more in the morning.

Here is our report for the 10th of January. Our current position is S88˚17’10”, W95˚26’57”.

It’s been yet another rough day with difficult conditions. The wind is about the same as yesterday, but temperatures have dropped to around –25˚C. It has been a demanding day for most us, where the altitude, wind and cold have made the going miserable. But the most serious thing is that one of the expedition members has frostbite on both thumbs and several fingertips. As soon as we discovered that, we pitched camp. That’s why today’s distance is limited to 11 km.

Fortunately the frostbite does not appear to be deep. It seems only the skin is damaged, although it will surely become more painful soon. Now the critical challenge is to make sure that he doesn’t suffer any more frost – he must protect his fingers and hands as well as possible. We’ve given him a pair of large reserve mittens, which have lots of space inside, creating an extra pocket of insulating air around his hands. And we’ll follow developments closely. Our hope is that the wind calms down – and it will, hopefully already tomorrow. It’s abating slightly even as we speak.

This was unfortunate news at the end of the day. The wind out here on the Antarctic Plateau makes it difficult. Today has been a struggle. Nevertheless spirits are high, and our comrade with frostbitten fingers is determined to continue. As we press on, we adjust our clothing and equipment to the best of our abilities. Our goal is to reach the Pole – but not regardless of the cost. We’re taking good care of each other and making sure everyone will remain safe and in good health.

Britt reading in the tent at the end of a rough day. Checking frostbitten fingers.

We’re sheltered in the tents again. Our position is S88˚10’14”, W95˚24’48”.

It was good that we had a “test leg” yesterday and tried our form. That allowed us to make numerous adjustments – starting straight off with a day such as this one, would definitely not have been a good idea. It’s been windy all day, picking up to 8–9 metres per second toward the end of it, and it has been coming straight at us. And believe me, when it’s –20˚C, you really feel that!

The breaks seem almost the worst, because we quickly chill down. Anyways, we’ve walked for seven hours and put 13 km behind us. That’s not bad, considering the conditions and that this is our first real day.

I’m sharing my tent with the oldest and youngest expedition member. Our youngest is 22 years old, while our senior member has reached 70. But these two are actually among those who are doing best. On an expedition like this, it’s not uncommon for a few people to become cold and fatigued, and the altitude is a strong factor in that.

We’ll see what the weather gods have in store for us tomorrow, but we can probably expect a day or two of strong winds, before the weather settles down and gives us calmer conditions. Spirits are still high. Now we’re looking forward to a good night’s sleep, before we attack the next leg in the morning. It’ll be exciting to see what the day brings.

We’re in the tents now. At noon today we flew from Patriot Hills. We had an intermediate landing at S85˚ to fill fuel, before continuing to S88˚. There we came in for a perfect landing.

We travelled in two Twin Otters, so we could get our entire group into position in one go. Weather conditions were perfect when we landed, with temperatures at about 18˚C. Conditions were perfect to test our form and equipment, so we skied for two and a half hours. This also has the advantage of allowing people to make whatever adjustments they need for tomorrow.

The first couple of days are always special, and challenging; the situation is unfamiliar and there are a lot of things that you have to get used to.

The members of my expedition team are doing very well. A couple of them are complaining of headaches, but that’s to be expected. It takes time to acclimatise oneself to this altitude, which is about 3000 metres. The weather is gorgeous! There is a slight headwind, which there almost always is up here on the Antarctic Plateau, but it’s not bad.

Spirits are high. We’re tired, however, after getting very little sleep last night. But now we’ve crawled into our sleeping bags, and plan on getting enough shut-eye to compensate.

Our position is S88˚03’, W95˚. We walked 5 km in those 2.5 hours – which isn’t bad. We’ll have to increase that to an average of 18 km if we are to make the journey to the South Pole in the planned 12 days, which is our objective. But for the first few days we’ll take it easy and get accustomed to our new and very different environment.