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used to detect crevasses and two tractors were needed to drag
each load individually up the steepest parts of the Leverett
Glacier. Even so, I was encouraged. If it was possible for these
mechanical behemoths to find a route across the Leverett then
surely a lone skier would be able to do the same?
The only map of the Leverett I could find showed several
crevassed areas, particularly around the head of the glacier
where the ice spilled down from the plateau, but very little
detail. It was hard to tell exactly what I might expect in terms
of snow conditions and gradient. If it was possible for me to ski
up the glacier with fully loaded sledges, I would be able to start
my traverse from the Ross Ice Shelf side of the continent. Valdi,
the Reykjavik barber, was one of only a handful of people on
the planet who had travelled on the Leverett, so I was eager to
speak to him, hopeful that he might be able to provide some of
the answers I needed.
It was already getting dark as my Icelandic friend drove me
through a quiet Reykjavik suburb and helped me track down
the right address. The houses were warmly inviting, light
spilling from their windows or trussed in swarms of fairy-
lights around doorways. Leaving the car, we walked a short
distance before standing expectantly on a wide porch facing a
large front door. I felt oddly nervous as I pressed the doorbell.
Valdi answered almost immediately. He was in his late fifties
with a softly ageing face, shaven head and glasses. Welcoming
us into his spacious open-plan home, it wasn't long before we
had spread maps of Antarctica over the dining-room table
and were looking at pictures from his expedition over glasses
of beer.
'It was very cold at the Pole and we had very bad weather,' he
remembered. 'We stopped a few days from the glacier because
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