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Arctic wrap-up: Ultimate North heads into last degree
Apr 22, 2005 10: 49 EST
With dogs and team dead tired, Tom Avery and company are on the cusp of the last parallel, and only one degree separates them from the North Pole. The Korean team isn’t too far behind. Both expeditions are crossing their fingers, hoping to avoid the kind of massive leads that ended the Last Degree expedition. On the polar race front, the 16 Polar Challenge teams are chomping at the bit for the start of their journey on Saturday. Here’s the latest news from the Arctic:
NP teams from Canada
Tom Avery’s Ultimate North Expedition
In an attempt to make the most out of the remaining days of the expedition, Tom Avery has simply increased the length of the day:
“With the dogs showing the first real signs of fatigue, we're trying to work out how to get the most out of them. They've done so well to get this far but there's still some way to go and we don't want them to burn out before the end. So we've decided to continue the clock rolling and increase our days to 29.5 hours. This breaks down as follows:
2.5 hours to get up, have breakfast and break camp
6.5 hours travel (includes two 15 minute breaks)
4 hours rest and lunch in the tent
6.5 hours travel (includes two 15 minute breaks)
3 hours to set up camp, have dinner and go to bed
7 hours sleep”
”Since Marvin Camp we've found that the dogs' performance has been dropping off towards the end of the day, so by breaking the day into shorter sessions, we hope that we can get more out of them.”
The final push
”We're also feeling the strain of this final push and are looking forward to the end. We're exhausted and aching all over. But the fact that our bodies have held out for as long as they have is all down to Mr. Dax Moy, our personal trainer in London, who for the eight months prior to the expedition kicked us into shape. Had it not been for Dax, we would have collapsed a long time ago.”
Coordinates: 88° 59.76' N, 68° 44.09' W
Young Seok-Park
“When the team woke up in the morning of the 20th, they noticed that the southerly winds had pushed them 6 miles northwards during the night, to 87' 38". The team logged their best daily distance so far on that day, walking 17.35 miles over the span of 11.5 hours.”
Massive leads to the north
“On the 21st, the team encountered its share of difficult pressure ridges, and the going was tough. Also, it encountered leads that were 1-2 meters wide. The team knows about Tom Avery's progress and the conditions his team's been encountering the last couple of days (as well as that of the 89th degree polar team), and so the team is understandably worried about encountering massive leads to the north, and they have their fingers crossed.”
Coordinates as of April 21st: 88' 09.293 81' 50.861
Polar races
The Polar Challenge race
The Polar Challenge race, equipped with Contact 3.0 and exciting new tracking technology, is set to kick off the competition on Saturday. Here’s their latest pre-race dispatch:
“Competitors traveled during whiteout conditions today - giving them experience of what it is like to navigate without being able to see ahead! All teams have now arrived at Camp 4 safely for another night's rest. Multiple polar bear tracks were spotted again today, but there have been no sightings amongst the group moving to the starting line. Our support team, who are currently setting up camp at the starting line saw a mother and cub in the distance yesterday however...!”
Live image over Contact 3.0 of Ultimate North dogs sleeping, courtesy of www.barcapultimatenorth.com.
Siberia Expedition’s dispatches
Vancouver to Moscow
Ultimate North Tom Avery cybercast in Peary's footsteps
Finnish to Svalbard
Young Seok-Park NP (Korean)
Polar Challenge’s website
Polar Race 2005’s website
Franz Josef Land expedition
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