Institution news
It’s been a great summer in the UK, and the sun has been shining in Antarctica since 6 August, too. There are also some lighter themes to occupy both the team and followers of their incredible endeavour. Joanna Lumley, a trustee of The Coldest Journey, is conducting a series of interviews with the adventurers in Antarctica, aiming to publish one every fortnight; the team has held a number of Q&A sessions with members of the public over the internet; and Operations HQ members Tristam Kaye and Hugh Bowring have been working up to a cross-channel relay swim in aid of Seeing is Believing.
However, danger and discomfort; painstaking effort and resourceful solutions are constantly at the edges of the Ice Team’s daily lives, while they wait on the ice until it is time to start their treacherous journey back north.
Spencer Smirl has written a compelling account of a fuel transfer conducted at -50 degrees Celsius: one of the most important and also most difficult regular procedures that the team must carry out. Reading about the unexpected hazards the Ice Team faced during the latest attempt is insightful and chilling: following the team’s perseverance to remedy a potentially treacherous situation highlights the skills and resources that they bring to this challenge.
Spencer wrote: “A few days ago, we transferred fuel for the fourth and possibly final time here at our winter camp. It was stressful to say the least. Saturdays are our caboose scrub out days so we postponed our fuel transfer until Sunday. By the time we were set up to transfer fuel the generator was already showing signs of struggle within the fuel system. When we engaged the fuel pump it was extremely distressing when we were unable to get any flow of fuel. The conditions outside were terrible with the wind chill well into the -70Cs. In weather like this any little problem becomes a really big problem. When disconnecting and re-locating fuel lines there is a huge risk of personal injury, the sub-zero temperature of the fuel can instantly freeze skin on contact, and because our fuel has chilled at -50C for several weeks, it is especially dangerous…”
Read on to discover what happened next: http://www.thecoldestjourney.org/blog/from-the-ice/fuel-transfer-a-blog-by-spencer-smirl/
Of the many questions that members of the public have posted, a few concerned the selection of the Cat D6Ns, traction, and the imminent requirement to ‘defrost’ the vehicles, which have been snowed in since early June. Some insight is provided into the issues here:
http://www.thecoldestjourney.org/blog/from-the-ice/14036/
And a final progress update from Brian Newham on 27 August:
“We are now waiting for a period of stable weather before we can make plans to move north. Having been out of action for three months, the two Caterpillar D6Ns are going to need a lot of thawing out and preparation before they are ready to start, which is likely to take two days or more. Then there is the challenge of digging out all of the fuel scoots which have become quite submerged over the polar winter and reconnecting the ice train. It is going to be a slow process but hopefully we will be ready to roll soon.”
Although they have great experience of Antarctic terrain, and have developed ingenious solutions to unexpected problems – such as the winching of fuel scoots – the Ice Team are considering the perils of the crevasses and blue ice that they encountered on their way to this point, knowing they will soon be picking their route through them on their return north.