Despite huge disappointment for Sir Ranulph Fiennes, whose time in Antarctica has come to an end due to frostbite, the Coldest Journey expedition remains on target to achieve its scientific, educational and humanitarian goals.
It’s been a tough week for the Coldest Journey team. On Monday 25 February, it was announced that Sir Ranulph Fiennes had a frostbite injury and could no longer continue with the Antarctic expedition. Though this was a terrible blow to him personally, as his ambition for the project included becoming the first person to cross the continent in winter on skis, it was unanimously – though reluctantly – agreed by the Ice Team and board of trustees that he should leave the expedition while there is still a chance of evacuation.
However, weather conditions over the next few days were so difficult that immediate departure was impossible. Fiennes remained under the watchful care of team doctor, Rob Lambert. Finally, on Wednesday morning, a team from the Belgian International Polar Foundation managed to reach the Ice Train and transport him north to the Princess Elisabeth Station, from where the group will fly to Russian-run Novolazarevskaya (Novo), an Antarctic research station which has an airstrip. Upon arrival in Cape Town the priority will be for Fiennes to receive medical treatment for his frostbite injury, before he flies back to the UK.
The remaining five expedition members have all elected to continue with the winter crossing of Antarctica and will undertake all aspects of the project as originally planned. Under the experienced leadership of the Traverse Manager, Brian Newham, and thanks to the incredible training and preparations of the team currently on the ice, and back in the UK, the ‘mechanical’ crossing of Antarctica remains unaltered, can proceed as planned and is on schedule. Educational material, scientific projects and the commitment to raising awareness and funds for the charity Seeing is Believing are also on target. Sir Ranulph bid a difficult farewell to the team (with a kiss for Mary Mouse, the expedition’s children’s mascot) which you can watch below:
The expedition has reached the point where it can readily establish a supply depot on the Antarctic plateau. This puts the Ice Team in an excellent position to start the traverse as scheduled on 21 March.
Read on for insight into and updates about the Coldest Journey team’s recent steps.
At the very end of January, unloading the expedition equipment onto the ice from the SA Agulhas became a frustrating waiting exercise, as weather and ice conditions made it too dangerous to dock in Crown Bay. But before this happened, the Ice Group had already set up home in the cabooses and, after some modifications to electrics, plumbing and fuel systems, to name a few, it started to feel cosy – though quite a change from the relative luxury of the ship.
Richmond Dykes, who drives one of the Caterpillars, was persuaded to write his first blog on the expedition after testing the fuel scoots, and he provides some fascinating insight into employing one of the Cat D6Ns, a kinetic energy effect, and some head-scratching about unforeseen ice build-up on the drawbar that potentially added two tonnes to the train weight. A second attempt, following some reconfiguration of the pull-ropes and removal of the drawbar, was successful, and a test drive allowed for readings to be taken of the engine performance, transmission, coolant and hydraulic temperatures. Read more at http://www.thecoldestjourney.org/home/blog/2013/02/01/richmonds-first-blog/
On 4 February, Brian Newham writes of saying goodbye to the ship, after a celebratory evening on-board, and the sobering prospect for the six members of the Ice Team of being ‘alone’ as it sailed away. A day for reflection helped – naturally – by having a brew.
Richmond Dykes blogs about the newly termed ‘ice trains’: a D6N loaded up with a science caboose and storage sledge, pulling a formation of fuel scoots. Navigating the icy surface, dealing with ice build-up and keeping the loads balanced are the challenges, but all seems to be going well. He writes: “All came well within tolerance, with the engine pulling a 96% load factor at full throttle 2150 rpm in 1.5 gear and 1975 rpm in 2.5 gear. The torque converter ratio was a steady 0.92 to 0.94 in gear 1.5 and 0.86 to 0.88 in gear 2.5. We were very impressed with the pulling capabilities with no spinning out on the snow while turning.”
Laying a fuel depot south of the initial camp has been a project for February, and Traverse Leader Brian Newham explains why this is crucial to the supply during the difficult winter months. “Firstly, we need to reduce the weights that we are towing so we need to position fuel between our starting point at the coast and the Pole - we will then be able to pick up this fuel as we pass on our winter journey. Secondly, there is a mountain chain between the coast and the inland plateau and it makes things a lot easier for us to navigate through this area whilst conditions are easier and we have good daylight. Having laid our depot we will return to the coast and await the start of winter. Then we will set out on our winter journey with the benefit of knowing that we have fuel further south and also knowing the route through the difficult mountain section. It's a good plan.”
Although initial tests suggested they could increase the pull-loads, on their first major journey, faced with an incline, the Cats had other ideas. Read Spencer Smirl’s blog from 9 February to understand his initial sense of disappointment and despair when he realised his D6N had got stuck with his load in the snow, but incredible positivity and team spirit about the resolution they found to continue. Getting snowed-in hampered the team for a couple of days in mid-February, and they had a monumental three-hour dig to free up the cabooses, but putting in a long drive that day kept them on schedule. Rob Lambert, in his entry about ‘Boys’ Toys’ offers some insight into the camaraderie and shared knowledge of ski equipment, for those who want to get to the nitty-gritty of traversing the ice on foot, as well as the perspective of being ensconced in the cabin of a Cat.
Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) equipment has been employed in the fuel depot journeys, when travelling through a heavily crevassed area; and blue ice has been encountered: these conditions naturally slow the progress of the ice train down, and the team has to dig deep into their reserves of patience and endurance. But during this part of the expedition, the weather conditions are often ideal and certainly nothing like what they’ll face when winter sets in. What’s for sure, however, is that nothing is predictable about the conditions on this journey: just a few days later white-out conditions set in, at the top of a mountain pass, and the team just had to wait it out.
At the end of a difficult week for the all of the Coldest Journey team members, all our best wishes go to Brian, Rob, Spencer, Richmond, Ian and Sir Ranulph (Ran) – who remains fully dedicated to the project and will be active in on-going planning and operational management – as well as those who are supporting the team every day from other bases.
Traverse Manager Brian Newham said that the team would do everything in their power to make Fiennes proud of them by becoming the first people in history to cross the Antarctic in winter. “All of us here know that without Ran's vision, commitment, hard work and years of effort that none of us would be here now. Ran's departure [marks] another key moment in our journey and it was one that we never expected, but we are a strong and united team. We are as determined as ever to move forwards and to push the boundaries and while we do so we hope that we will continue to inspire and to draw attention to our chosen charity of Seeing is Believing.”
“Although Ran is no longer physically with us we carry his determination and incredible spirit forward and we hope that he will be proud of what we achieve.”
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