Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
was running well, making reasonable progress into a southerly gale,
and the sky was blue. Today, the clouds were upon me and I was
engulfed in driving snow. I have never experienced snow like it. I could
hardly see a couple of metres in front of me. I had Scotty take the six-
wheel drive a little way ahead to flatten out the track so I could run on
it, and Eric on a skidoo was behind it, dragging a red sled that I could
just about see and follow. I prayed I would not fall into a crevasse. I was
worried that Scotty would refuse to drive in the blizzard, because it
was definitely dangerous, but, thank God, he toughed it out. Tonight I
have an even greater appreciation of what Scott and Mawson endured.
The blizzard passed after a few hours, and suddenly the sky was
blue again. They say it's never brighter than when you emerge from
the darkness, and it's true.
I made 60 kilometres for the day, despite it being -20 degrees. If I
can maintain 60 or even 50 kilometres a day for the next ten days, I will
finish this sector in 18 or 19 days, which will blow away the old record
of 24 days, 1 hour and 13 minutes for getting from Union Glacier to the
South Pole, although, as I've said, the existing record was set by a lone
eri
c on t
he sk
idoo
drag
s the
red s
led t
hat g
uides
the w
ay.
