| May 22. Desperate horizon | |
 | Drifted 2 longitudes east over night, then the same distance west in the day. The leads have a strong current and the water between floating rubble heaves up and down violently. The water proofing got lost from Toms sled and he'll sleep in a soaked sleeping bag tonight. The last hour of today's travel was over a really bombed area. We paddled leads and bridged gaps every twenty minutes. Something is going on and we suspect the full moon high tide at May 26. All of this makes us pretty uptight. Each hour, every step towards the pole feels like a blessing. After hundreds of days on ice over the past 18 months we are only days away from our dream, but it feels an eternity. Anything can happen with this ice, it's so unpredictable. Our supplies are so tight, that we cannot afford surprises. And now the barometer is falling. We can hardly sleep. N 88 43,3 W 66 35,1 D 24,2 km TT 10,5 h TD 638,6/62days DNP 143 km, sleds w 92 kg, T(UTC-5) 10.00 p.m. -15C/8ktsE, Sun. Contrast: good, Sky: blue, visibility: 10km. Ice crystals: heavy. GPS: 1018 mbar(v), pos am 8831,0/6452,5 drift NE 3,3 km |
| May 21. Surfin` the Arctic ocean | |
 | Got news that Tina will get to be in Sports Illustrated if we make the pole. So we shot them this pic. Pondering the honor Tina realized she has washed her hair 4 times in 5 months. The thriller of today came upon crossing a small pressure ridge. Suddenly the entire thing began to sink, sucking Toms legs below like quicksand. He was stuck in his sled and couldn't escape. Eventually he got out, but the ice is scary now. Our favorite to cross a lead is to paddle the sled like a surfboard, laying on our stomach. Swimming is cold and wet, sit and paddlle is very unstable. They are sleds after all, not kayaks. Trickiest is to get on and off from the ice. The question is what's beneath us. The shiny, gray sled bottom must look like a perfect seal and we'd hate to end up on top of a Orca`s nose. Yesterday there actually came a strange sound from the water. We doubled our surf speed. Years ago, one expedition experienced a walrus coming out from a lead. It even stalked them for a while! We are getting good at this Arctic surf now however, down to 13 minutes incl drysuit dressup for a medium size lead (50m/150ft). Saves us tremendous time compared to the minimum 30-45 min it usually takes to ski around them. We can do 4-5 times the normal amount of leads, which we need now as everything rapidly thaws around us. (Nannie pls send your e-mail adress to AA@humanedgetech.com we`d like to get in touch after the exp). N 88 30,3 W 65 55,0 D 23,5 km TT 10,5 h TD 614,4/61days DNP 166 km, sleds w 95 kg, T(UTC-5) 10.00 p.m. -12C/10ktsSW, Sun, Ci 2/3. Contrast: good, Sky: blue, visibility: 10km. Ice crystals: mod. GPS: 1023 mbar(-), pos am 8818,1/6751,1 drift SE 1 km |
| May 20. Pushing hard | |
 | Woke up to bad news. Whiteout, wind and a south drift of 2,5 km! That equals 5 km lost distance over 24 hours. Then we learned that Dave has pulled out. As the only other unassisted expedition here, we loved to get his reports. We miss you, mate. Headed out to a bombsite. Blue pressure ridges and huge leads, one after the other. Fought, swam and paddled our way, battling the mad ice and the backdrift. At the end of the day we hit our limit: A wide sunken pressure ridge. Went out in the soup, trying to swim and do island hopping between the ice islands. But they just sank each time and we kept falling back in. The islands then broke away as we tried to climb up again, the entire ice moving around us in all directions. It took over an hour to cross the 100 meters. We just won't swim that kind of lead again. Water gets in everywhere, even our sleepingbags are wet. Don't worry if you didn't hear the bang in the Winchester voice dispatch. It did go off, the PDA just refused to record it. The gun works again which is a good thing. Last year, polar bear tracks were seen right at the pole. And today we had another set of fox tracks. Our gun has earlier (2000) been used by a British Army unsupported expedition. The guys carved their names in the handle. They took 75 days, surviving on sugar water only in the last week. But guess what. They made it! N 88 18,3 W 68 12,7 D 14,1 km TT 11,5 h TD 590,9/60days DNP 188,3 km, sleds w 98 kg, T(UTC-5) 11.00 p.m. -7C/8ktsNE, am St 8/8, pm Cu 3/8. Contrast: good, Sky: blue, visibility: 10km. Ice crystals: mod. GPS: 1026 mbar(-), pos am 8809,6/6732,0 drift SW 2,5km |
| May 19. Technology at the extreme | |
 | The right part of the nose froze which indicated that the wind had changed to easterly, giving us a south-west drift. At first most leads were frozen which is a luxury these days. By p.m. they opened again and we also had a big area of new pressure ridges. The leads were narrow so sled bridges were enough, but some were so deep that we had to brake away the ice at the edges before hauling in the sleds. If they go in at to steep of an angle they'll sink. The tech we use to transmit these live pics and stories is unique to this expedition. We have tailor made it for the North Pole. The setup is ultra lightweight and easy to handle. A dig cam, PDA, sat phone and battery bank is all that's needed. We have custom made the connections, the power and instant publishing software . We have earlier built wireless local area networks on Everest, transmitting over Inmarsat. At Antarctica, we used wearable computing with Orbcomm uplinks. Between metropolitan cities such as NY, Santiago or Stockholm we use Ericsson world mobiles. The experience we (and the ExWeb team) gain from each expedition helps to create even more durable and light means of communication from anywhere in the world. The result is what you now experience: An extreme adventure, two players, outcome unknown. A drama without safety lines, all live. N 88 10,8 W 67 29,3 D 20,4 km TT 10,4 h TD 576,8/59days DNP 202,2 km, sleds w 100 kg, T(UTC-5) 10.00 p.m. -10C/8ktsNE, am St, pm Cu 8/8. Contrast: mod, Sky: white, visibility: 3km. Ice crystals: mod. GPS: 1028 mbar (-), pos am 8800,1/6557,8 drift SW |
| May 19. Gun check in the Arctic. | |
Click here to listen | |
| May 18. 88 degrees north | |
 | Pushed hard to get out of 87th today. Full sun all day helped out. Areas of rubble and old pans, a few leads every hour. A couple of the leads were really hairy; wide and VERY swaying. Each such crossing leaves our knees soft as jelly, we virtually run on water, feeling the ice sinking below us. It's important to be determined, fast and light and not to stop for a second of hesitation. Most often we go around the leads, but occasionally we have no choice and must get out on thin ice. It's late spring now and the ice is treacherous. What used to have the look of safe ice; white and crystals growing, is now far from the solid surface it used to be. We are very cautious. Apart from the ice conditions, we are in good shape. Lean but not skinny, sleeping and eating well (incl today's cheese camembert to celeb 88), and all gear in order. Superglue still seals Toms shoe sole, gas consumption under control (we've even learned to melt snow without gas), Tina's clothes now dry and Toms neck improving each day. A foot rash is gone thanks to foot powder, Toms knee is taped. A good status for the final countdown. N 88 00,3 W 65 53,5 D 25,0 km TT 11 h TD 556,4/58days DNP 221,6 km, sleds w 103 kg, T(UTC-5) 10.00 p.m. -10C/4ktsSW, Sun. Contrast: good, Sky: blue, visibility: 10 km. Ice crystals: mod. GPS: 1020 mbar (-), pos am 8747,4/6555,6 drift NE 3,0 km |
| May 17. The road less traveled | |
 | Had an interview with LA Times this morning. Twenty minutes later we were flat on our stomachs on top of our sleds crushing ice to cross a lead. How do you explain that and the reason for it to a guy in Los Angeles on a sat phone that makes you sound like you were in the office next door? Perhaps the poem "The road not taken" does. Read it on the board. Anyway, said he was having salmon for lunch. Healthy and wise - but right now we wish he'd said he'd have a full rack of ribs. Record distance again, flat pans mixed with blue rubble. Leads almost frozen, sun, later clouds and snow. Toms neck much better, instead his knee locked as he went through the ice and jumped up legs bent in an awkward position. The knee came loose by itself luckily, but will tape it fixed tonight. N 87 47,0 W 66 35,4 D 25,2 km TT 10 h TD 531,4/57days DNP 246,3 km, sleds w 107 kg, T(UTC-5) 10.00 p.m. -10C/10ktsSSW, Am/Sun. Pm Cu 8/8, sf. Contrast: poor, Sky: grey, visibility: 3 km. Ice crystals: light. GPS: 1016 mbar (-), pos am 8733,8/6624,3 drift NE 2,0 km |
| May 16. Find a way or make one | |
 | It's incredible how one day all seems lost and the next we make a record distance. The day started with 15 leads to cross in the first 30 minutes. Then, just as abrupt as they had emerged the leads vanished and we had several large pans and full sun to navigate between them. It was just the break we needed after the past days horror show. We made a bridge of the sleds on one lead and swam another. That was a trial; Tom in his mattress neck support and Tina after yesterdays solo swim sans her drysuit (the tech she carries on her body was saved, thanks to ziplock plastic bags). Tom is in pain when pulling over rubble or getting up on icy shores after a lead swim. Those moves really put a strain on his injured neck. Tina's clothes are not yet dry. But we got a full day, a record distance and we are back on track. N 87 33,4 W 66 49,7 D 22,1 km TT 10 h TD 506,2/56days DNP 271,4 km, sleds w 110 kg, T(UTC-5) 10.00 p.m. -6C/12ktsSSW, Sun. Contrast: good, Sky: blue, visibility: 10 km. Ice crystals: mod. PM: Sc 7/8. GPS: 1013 mbar (-), pos am 8722,4/6640,9 drift NE 2,8 km |
| ExWeb update May 16, Still out there! | |
| Just got a call from T&T. They are both still determined to reach the pole unsupported, despite last night's intermezzo. Toms neck is slightly better still hurting but with the custom made stabilizer it should be bearable. Tina's clothes are still damp, she reckoned it will take 2 days for them to dry. Stay tuned for their next dispatch coming up around 8 pm EST. | |
| May 15. Lost hopes and new chances | |
 | Today our expedition almost ended. The night was very windy and the drift brutal. The morning brought full sun and an interview with National Geographic over the sat. We then headed for the lead, which had frozen, but only barely; 1-1,5 hits with skipoles. We crossed it hearts throbbing. The terrain next was a crashsite of blue rubble and an archipelago of more thin ice leads. Suddenly Tina heard Toms cries for her. He lay in a mess of skis, sleds and gear in a pile of rubble. He had hit his neck and head in a violent fall, when pulling his sled free from blue ice. He was dizzy and temporarily disabled in his arm and back. Tina set up camp and put him inside a sleeping bag as he was also getting cold rapidly from the shock. Tina then went back for Toms sled and gear. She wore no skis and in a small rubble filled crack, she fell in the ocean. There had been a small patch of black ice, hidden by snow. Tom was in the tent 150ft away and Tina was alone. She couldn't get up as the ice broke up around her. She felt how she got cold in the water and knew she only had minutes to get out. In a last effort, she heaved herself up, probably trained by our swims in the drysuits. Soaking wet, she hurried to tent and finished camp. We then called a doctor and made a checkup on Tom. Seems he got a big blow to the neck muscle. It's painful and immobilizing - but not severe. We can proceed, making him a head stabilizer using a foam mattress and duct tape. We are drying up the clothing best we can on our limited gas, but it will be a painful journey for Tom and a damp one for Tina over the next few days. N 87 21,7 W 67 05,8 D 11,2 km TT 4,5 h TD 484,1/55days DNP 293,2 km, sleds w 113 kg, T(UTC-5) 9.00 p.m. -8C/0kts, Sun. Contrast: good, Sky: blue, visibility: 10 km. Ice crystals: mod. GPS: 1011 mbar (-), pos am 8717,8/6709,7 drift NE 7 km |
| ExWeb update May 15, Perilous 87 | |
| Tom and Tina has just entered one of the most difficult stages of the
Expedition. Deep under the black water between N87 00 and N88 30 lies two underwater ridges, over these the water runs faster, that is what causes the rapid drift they are currently experiencing. Constantly changing ice, lots of leads and rubble are all effects of the drift.
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