LOO-JW - Alone in Antarctica: The First Woman to Ski Solo Across the Southern Ice - page 43

that I had seen from the air with the Leverett Glacier running
through it. This would be my gateway up to the higher ground
of the Antarctic Plateau. Having flown over the glacier, I knew
it was concealed somewhere in the chain of ridges, buttresses
and mountainsides that stretched away from me to the east but
even if I had been in any doubt of which direction to take, the
tracks of the SPOT traverse were unmistakable as they darted
ahead of me toward the horizon. I skied clear of them but they
were always there, as unshakable as a shadow, dominating the
landscape. I tried not to be disappointed by this intrusion of a
manmade scar into a place I had expected to be unblemished.
Despite the fact that the ground around me looked as solid
as carved granite, the memory of the view I had seen from
the air, specifically the dark spectres of crevasses lurking under
the snow surface on either side of the tracks, was still vivid
in my mind. My heart beat faster when I dwelled on it and
instinctively I placed my gloved hand on the cold bulk of the
satellite phone in my jacket pocket. Usually I kept the handset
safely stowed in my sledge but now that I was travelling alone
I wanted it close at hand. If the worst happened and I fell into
a crevasse I couldn't be sure that I would be able to reach
my sledge. I tried not to think about the fact that the chances
of getting a signal on a satellite phone from the bottom of a
narrow crack in the ice were pretty remote regardless.
It felt good to be on my way and to feel the familiar rhythm
of ski, pole and sledge; breath and heartbeat. The steady wind
kept me cool but I could feel the heat of the sun through my
thin windproof jacket. The snow surface was softly scored by
the wind into low, snaking ridges but it was flat enough that I
could look around me as I skied without needing to concentrate
on the ground. I couldn't keep my eyes off the mountain