Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
companion Belgrave Ninnis to a crevasse, along with a dog team and
fully laden sled, in 1912. One moment they were travelling behind
Mawson, the next they had disappeared. Mawson, who himself nar-
rowly missed death when he fell into a crevasse and his sledge wedged
into the ice and stopped his fall, never saw them again.
Eric is adamant that we won't be flying out until January 26. I've
told him I plan to be there to raise the Red Cross flag on January 19.
He's sceptical, but he has learned that I usually do what I say I will.
december 31
I woke at 4.48 am still dressed from last night. (The use of the word
'night' is not strictly correct, as the sun shines here for 24 hours a day.
We have remained on Chile time.) I had a quick stretch, put my bib
and brace overalls on and took off down the designated track used by
scientists and explorers that leads to the South Pole. Ming and Eric
had their breakfast, packed up the camp, then jumped on their ski-
doos to rendezvous with me later on the ice.
The snow seems to have a different structure here from at the
Arctic where I found the ice shifting and giving way beneath me. It's
more solid and like large raw sugar crystals and reflects the light like
diamonds. There have been periods when it has been knee-deep.
Mostly, though, the ice surface is like sand—gritty and crunchy under-
foot—and it's as though I'm running on a beach. I've run through
the deserts of Central and South America, and now this place is like a
desert, too, with no flora or fauna, but instead of roasting heat there's
freezing cold. I've had to modify my running style to accommodate
the new conditions. My low-cut snow boots are keeping my battered
feet warm and the ice out. My feet are torturing me, but my bad knee
is holding up okay so far.
It is easy to get snow blindness here, but, as I'm without a power-
ful filter on my goggles, I'm finding it difficult to tell the difference
between hills and holes. Also, my nose and mouth pieces are icing
up more quickly than they did at the North Pole. I must be breathing
more heavily here. After all, at the North Pole if I ran 20 kilometres it
was an outstanding day; here, I'm running 70 kilometres per day at
an ever-increasing altitude. The air will become thinner and thinner,
and it will become increasingly difficult to breathe and more difficult
