Made It with fingers and all

Made it to the South Pole and back home with all fingers and other bodily protrusions healthy and with no frost bite.

A little drama along the but will update later.

Now it off to the drawing board to figure out how to fly a microlight there.

Ricky

Lolo the Red Cross Children's Hospital Mascot on the South Pole

GPS trying to show 90 degrees at the pole


The Official South Pole

We off Again January 4th

We're on our way to the POLE

Got to the dining tent this morning and we were told to get ready, we were flying out to the last degree in two hours time. “No test run with the skis and sleds?” Guess not!

A nervous energy set in as we scurried around collecting equipment and sleds to the aircraft. The food, fuel, tents etc were all evenly split amongst each sled. Working with thick gloves and clothing is at times cumbersome and frustrating but there is no other way of coping with the cold. If we take our layers of gloves off almost instantly the cold starts hurting and within minutes the pain becomes unbearable.

On one occasion after dropping my camera, I very cleverly tried to lick the ice off the lens cover and landed up with the camera momentarily stuck to my tongue.

We got the sleds loaded into the Twin Otter aircraft. Lei somehow did not appear until it was almost all done. It was great to be out and doing something.

Packing the plane with our sleds and equipment

When we left Patriot hills there were still several groups awaiting to fly to Mount Vinson, a few scientists going to do experiments out on the ice.

The landscape below us as we flew towards the Pole was as beautiful as it was surreal. The mountains behind the Patriot hills camp was the only feature in the endless flat white expanse. Literally a white desert.
It was clear how the Antarctica can be described as another planet.

Occassionally mountains rise through the ice glacier which covers the Antartica.

Two hours later we landed at Thiels, a fuel depot out on the ice.
Three men were coincidently there in a large snow mobile. They had driven for 4 days from Patriot Hills to deliver 200 litre barrels of aircraft fuel to this refuelling spot. Makes one appreciate the massive and difficult logistics of operating on the ice.

Landing was nerve wracking because high clouds had moved over the area turning it into a single tone whiteness. Basically a whiteout. The ground was clearly visible but impossible to visually tell what height it was. Fortunately the pilots are experienced in these conditions and the whole area is basically a huge flat plain where the plane can land wherever it touches down.

Thiels, a refueling depot enroute to the South Pole

After refuelling it was another hour and a half flight to the last degree, S 89. degrees
The pilots circled around and landed on the smoothest looking area.
The planes are fitted with ski’s and they can land virtually anywhere that looks reasonably smooth.
Watching the plane take off did leave us feeling a bit anxious. Alone on the side of the tracks where the plane had landed. We were the only feature that stood out above the ice for a far as the eye could see. Like tiny insects on a vast plane of white nothingness.
The weather was awesome. Not a breath of wind and absolute silence, like an early morning in the Saharha Desert but white and a lot colder.

Anxious moment as the plane takes off leaving us on the ice

We set up the tents and packed in for the “Night”.
Tomorrow we start moving towards the pole.

The GPS shows 108km to go

Ciao
Ricky

Getting ready JANUARY 3rd

Life here on the ice has been very chilled so far.
We have been getting our equipment ready.
Tents, sleds, ski's, food, clothing and a few other gizmo's like GPS and compass etc.

Kitted out and Ready to Ski
This is all being done at a leisurely pace which is great but I am getting edgy and keen to get out there. After all the training and preparation its now time to get out and do it.

Paul, James and I went out for a trail run with the ski's and semi-loaded sleds today. All went well it seems simple and easy enough.

James and I Photographed by Paul at an abandoned Chilean base

The Chilean base looks like something out of a science fiction movie. Only the dome rooves protrude above the ice. It seems that the ice buries everything. There is even an old Dakota aircraft buried near the runway. It missed the runway in bad weather and there it stayed. Only the tail sticks out.

Dakota tail is all that shows of the intact aircraft that has been buried below the ice

Our Last Degree group consists of four of us and our guide will be David Hamilton.

• James (pronounced Gg'hiemy) from Spain.He has skied the last degree to the North Pole.


• Lei from China who now lives in the USA. She has climbed Mnt Vinson last week.


• Paul from Canada who has also skied the last degree to the North Pole and is the owner of the BAFFIN boots company. (I had an embarrassing moment when we first met. I went on one of my protracted explanations about how amazing the boots were that I was issued with and he patiently waited his turn to tell me he was the owner of the company.


• and myself. I am probably the least experienced at this but feel confident after today's little ski trip that I will manage as well.

The weather has become overcast with strong winds which we are told is only blowing a breeze.

The aeroplanes are ready to fly mountain climbers to the base camp at Mount Vinson and then we are next. They cant fly because the Vinson base camp is overcast and poor visibility.

In the meantime we sit in the dining tent over indulging in chocolates and cakes. What can i say,"We need the fat to handle the cold."

Ciao for now

Ricky

Patriot Hills Camp Life JANUARY 2nd

PATRIOT HILLS

It was a pleasant surprise to arrive to so many unexpected comforts in what is supposed to be a baron continent.
The camp consists of various types of tents ranging from small mountaineering tents for the parties climbing Mount Vinson, to Clam tents for Last Degree expeditions and up to a large long half tube tent being the kitchen and dining area.
Kitchen: Water is made fron ice which is dug out with spades from outside, boiled in pots and from it the food.(food is plentiful and excellent.)

Dining Tent

On arrival we were shown to the Dining tent and briefed about several modus operandi on the base which included a polite description on the use of the toilets. (IE. No running water. Hum!).
The dining tent is the hub of all activities and socialising, including the New Years festivities, which naturally had to be repeated at each persons respective home time, justifying the necessity to drink Russian Vodka, then French Champaigne, then Chilean wine etc all leading to impassioned New Years resolutions and great hangovers, both of which were probably equally regretted in the morning.

Myself and Paul (also doing the Last Degree) are in a Clam tent together. It is amazingly warm, spacious and has two great beds. They say life is tough on the Antartic. For now not but later maybe. Time will tell.

Clam Tent

Some of the comforts Antarctic adventurers trying to portray tough images, might refrain from admitting to.

The two smaller Twin Otter aircraft park fairly close to the tented area.

Several other tents serve to store equipment, skidos, mechanical workshop, toilets and weather/management co-ordinating office which looks like it could have been a 6m refrigeration container in its early days. The weather forecasts proved to be accurate and reliable. (Arbitrary observation you may think, but strap a microlight to ones pants and it becomes critical information).

The toilets are where all forms of comforts cease.

No Running water! No flushing, no washing ......

Water is a scarce comodity on the driest continent in the world so the last place it is spent is on ablutions.

For environmental reasons everything gets bagged or canned and taken off the ice. “How”, You may ask?

Toilets

The WC on the left is for Number 2’s (Boys and Girls) deposited into a plastic bag suspended below.

WC in the middle is for only girls to wee in and tip the contents from the red bucket below into the metal urinal/funnel on the right.

The metal urinal is for the boys. (not favoured by short men).

Sanitising gel is the only form of hand washing which is also practicle as water would just freeze to your hands. For the same reason brushing teeth is a mission. Its like rubbing a toothpaste flavoured block of ice against you teeth.

It is desperately cold but perhaps because the air is dry it does not feel too bad.

Dont let me mislead you into thinking it is all easy. Life here on the ice can be a huge mission. Planning ahead and being prepared for the worst is essential. Without the fuel and gas for the stoves, life would be serious Scot like survival.

Ciao for now

On Antarctica DECEMBER 31st

After 3 days of waiting in Punta Arenas for the weather to improve at Patriot Hills, Antarctica, we flew in on the Russian Ilyushin cargo plane filled with food, equipment and a large amount of fuel in barrels.

Sitting amongst barrels of fuel hoping the landing will be gentle

Anyone know what is Emergency Exit in Russian?

A long stretch of ice serves as the runway. Waiting for the plane to stop on it is a nerve wracking slip sliding affair.

Patriot Hills is a tented camp located at a base the Ellsworth Mountain range on the vast white landscape of ice.

Nearly all private expeditions and some govermental operations set off from this base.

At the end of each summer season the base is dismantled and buried in an underground ice cave for next year.
There is a large dining tent which also doubles as the primary operations/debauchery area. (More about this later).

We had perfect Weather with no wind for the first two days while we got our equipment ready(Tents, food, sleds, skis, stoves and clothing).

The plan was to do a test run one day out of base camp to see we were organised and then fly out in the smaller Twin Otter aircraft to the last degree. For some strange reason that test run did not happen, much to our demise later on.

It was amazing to be on the ice and took some getting used to the sun not setting. Night is determined by the time and not the sun.

Luckily I had brought a blind fold from the airline flight to cover my eyes at "Night". No night time felt confusing at times.

The cold took some getting used to but with modern clothing and a good pair of goggles it was simple enough to adjust to.

We are off.

Hi
Yeeeeees! Yes! Yes.
We are going to be flying out of Punta Arenas onto Antarctica in an hours time.

Hold thumbs.

Good Bye Plant Earth.
(No! I am not tempting fate its just that they say Antarctica is like being on another planet)

Ciao
Ricky

Organization

Getting onto Antarctic is a challenge.

Its either by boat or by aeroplane.

The flights are done basically by one commercial operation that flies from Punta Arenas in southern Chile.

The flight is on a large Russian Ilyushin cargo aircraft to a base called Patriot Hills close to Mount Vinson. Most private individuals go there to climb Mount Vinson as it is the highest peak on that continent.

From there its onto a small Twin Otter aeroplane to the last degree (S 89 degrees)before the South Pole where we get dropped off with sleds, skis, tents and cross country ski to the pole.

It is estimated to take about 6 to 8 days to ski to the pole depending on the weather.

To get back from the South Pole the same little aircraft comes and picks us up (whenever it can) and flies us back to Patriot hills.

There are 4 of us skiing to the Pole. A Japanese woman who we will meet up with later, James from Spain and Paul from Canada and myself. More about them later.

Flying there in aeroplanes sound all nice and cosy but in reality nothing ever is. The weather on Antarctic is extreme both in temperature and winds. So flying happens when mother nature permits and that's whats going on at the moment. We are sitting in Punta Arenas with the Ilyushin aircraft fully loaded, ready and waiting for the weather to clear at Patriot hills which could take several days or more. We are on standby and contacted every 4 hours to let us know whether we are flying or not.

We are dressed in normal warm clothes but if they give us the go ahead we have to get dressed into the extreme clothing and get to the airport ready to take off in an hour.

And so I sit in the hotel room making up stuff to write on this blog.

Its a symbiotic arrangement, its for the entertainment of both of us. Now don't go sending comments that I am not doing good enough and must try harder.

Ciao

Ricky

Equipment

LOONEY ON THE LOOSE!
(Clearly still with all 10 fingers)

Modern equipment for trips into extreme conditions have made these expeditions easier than the earlier explorers who had to make good with clothing made of animal skins.

I bought most of my clothing at Mountain Mail Order (http://www.mountainmailorder.co.za/) who specialises in this type of equipment.

It seems the correct way to dress is in layers and having a good barrier against the wind. Not sweating is very important because the sweat turns to ice and multiplies into bigger problems. When the body gets cold it draws blood from the extremities to protect the vital organs and hence the fingers, noes, ears and toes "etc" get very cold which can lead to frost bite. So keeping them warm would help avoiding going home with little black stumps.

Clothing:

Thermal underwear/Willy warmer

Power stretch pants and top

Polartec tracksuit top and pants

Ski pants and down jacket

Pants and jacket rain suit

Also extra Polartec top with removable sleeves

Baffin boots which are absolutely amazing http://www.baffin.com/

Three layers of varying thickeness of socks and similarly gloves.

PS. I might also wear two layers of knee high stockings. (Got you wondering?) It's an old army trick to avoid blisters.

Polartec Buff around the neck which can extend over the head.

Polartec balaclava

Wind proof beeny which extends below the ears

Moms woolen beeny

Skiing goggles which cut out 100% of UV and 'dont' fog up.

Polarized sunglasses

Sleeping

2 Therm rest ground mats

2 Sleeping bags and sleeping bag liner. Inside each other.

My favourite blow up pillow.

Tooth brush and hand towel.

How the toilet arrangement work I am yet to figure out.

Stack of snacky type foods, chocolates and biscuits etc.

2 Digital Cameras with total of 5 gig cards for each and 4 sets batteries for each.

1 El' cheapo film camera

Ciao

Ricky

Plane Loaded and ready to roll

We are way down in the South of Chile at a town called Punta Arenas on the Straits of Magellen.

Our equipment was weighed and loaded onto the aeroplane last night and today we are waiting for the weather at Antarctica to improve so the plane can land on that side. I believe it can be a long and tedious wait.

An earlier group waited 8 days.

Off to meet up with the two other guys who will also be skiing to the South Pole.

More on them later.

Ciao

Ricky

Satellite Image and Map of Antarctica

This is a satellite image of Antarctica with names I have added in of various locations and so called scientific stations on the continent.

Please dont do something crazy like sailing your yacht or flying your aeroplane according to this map. It's one I made up from various sources of information.

TRAINING

There are only three things which are important in putting together an adventure.

PREPARATION, PREPARATION, PREPARATION.

I have spent the last 4 months putting in effort to get fit for the expedition. The training program peaked a month ago with weight training 4 times a week, three tyre pulling sessions through the soft sand in Tokai Forest. The last month lost a bit of focus with my daughter arriving from Australia for the holidays. This gave me a great excuse to focus on R+R (rest and recovery) and try to put on some FAT to insulate against the cold. This has been the fun part. Eating as much junk sweets, cakes and ice cream as possible. Managed to put on all of 2kg and move the tyre onto my waist.

Right now I am feeling physically good and ready.

The physical concerns I have is the cold. I am not sure how I will manage the extreme temperatures.

Ciao

Ricky

ANTARCTIC

ANTARCTIC
is the seventh continent of the world and unlike the North pole is made up of solid rock covered in ice.
It is regarded as the remotest and driest place on earth. Difficult to imagine but has less rain than the Sahara Desert.
It is also a massive continent, bigger than Australia and also bigger than the USA.
The physical altitude of the geographical pole is 9500 feet above sea level but because the air is thinner at the poles, the density of the air is equivalent to being at approximately 12000 to 15000 feet.
What the importance of this?
Well, tie a car tyre to your waist and drag it around the block at sea level and see how out of breath you become. Then try and imagine what it is like if the air is much thinner which could require breathing twice or more as much. Not a simple task but that is what it entails to make it to the SOUTH POLE, Oh! And dont forget the added challenge of the warmest day possibly being as high as -20 degrees Celsius but more realistically when the wind blows in excess of 100km/hr it should get below -40 dgrees Celsius.
Yes, winter woollies are a must. Loosing a glove amounts to loosing a few fingers and a simple tasks such as going to the toilet takes some major planning and is done at close to the speed of light.

Lets get down there and see what its all about

Why?

WHY?

You probably wont be content with the " because it's there" or "it's for the challenge" type of answer so let me elaborate.

On many levels the microlighting expedition around the world has had a huge positive effect on my purpose and reasoning for doing these expeditions. It has since become important to do them for reasons beyond the challenge.

The questions I ask is "What difference can the expedition make?" and "How does it add value to others?"

"What difference can this expedition make?"

Again the microlight expedition has had a fundamental influence. What we saw unfold below us as we hung from our open deck chairs flying across the world was both equally breathtaking as it was shocking.

The world is a breathtakingly beautiful place but shocking, in fact frightening to see the desperate state of the environment.

My entire working career has been in property development and "tree huggers" have certainly not been our allies so you can imagine the extremity of the experience to have made such a change of opinion, to the point that I now class myself as one of these "tree huggers". (did I just write that?)

I have come to appreciate the efforts being put into dealing with Global Warming but also see it as only one of many symptoms of a much bigger environmental crisis we have got ourselves into.

Now how does this fit into going to the South Pole? Well, it's the continent exposed to the hole in the ozone layer caused by all our carbon emissions so lets go down there and try to measure this ourselves. I am taking a small UV meter for this purpose.

My intentions with this expedition is to draw attention to the Global Warming related issues that will effect Southern Africa and inturn RED CROSS CHILDRENS HOSPITAL and after the expedition I will be doing corporate presentations to highlight the opportunities for both business and individuals within the present Global Warming efforts.

"How does it add value to others?"

Hopefully the RED CROSS CHILDRENS HOSPITAL will benefit from related exposure and the attention to Global Warming will have a similar impact on others opinions too.

And last of all encourage others to get out there and pursue their own dreams.

"If you not chasing a dream you are not living."