Day 12: Antarctica’s odd ‘horizontal avalanches’ and other weather discoveries
Dr. Ross and the Test Your Limits team are so close to the South Pole, but will the weather hold
Coordinates: South 89.43.7, West 83.17.8
We crossed 8.6 nautical miles today.
When we woke up it was actually really, really cold but the sun was out. As the day wore on we saw all kinds of weather. We had increasing wind. We had snow. We had overcast skies across the horizon. And then as we came to camp the sun came back again.
Michel and I were walking back the last little bit into camp when all of a sudden we felt the earth move. Keith explained that it was a sort of horizontal avalanche caused by different layers of snow underneath the top crust that had just collapsed. We could hear it and we could actually feel the motion. Apparently, this is quite common and is absolutely nothing to be worried about.
Weather got me thinking of the past. In 2006, because of the weather, we were unavoidably detained in Punta Arenas, which impacted our ability to successfully climb Vinson. In 2008 in Nepal, we had monsoon-style rain threaten to flood the camp off the mountain. In 2010 at the North Pole, we were pinned down for 60 hours because of the weather.
We’ve been remarkably lucky with weather on this trip. For the most part, it hasn’t affected our travel.
I think there’s really one thing different about this trip than all other trips: Diego. I have decided he is a good weather magnet and he clearly is a good luck charm. The Test Your Limits team is not letting him go.
The last couple of days have been a little bit challenging for me. I had a cold and then it developed into bronchitis. I haven’t talked about it because I didn’t want to upset my parents. But I’m definitely getting better so I thought I would go back and retrace the past few days.
About two days ago, Michel offered to take some of my gear. He exchanged about 20 to 25 pounds of my gear for some lighter aspects of his gear. And Dale, Diego and Michel did some shifting of their group tent gear. As a result, I was able to lighten my sled substantially, which made it remarkably easier for me over these last few days. I’m not actually certain I would have been able to do the last few days without that help.
I want to give a huge shout out to my burly boys Keith, my tent mate, Dale, Diego and Michel. For a number of days they have taken on more than their share in order to help me.
The South Pole feels real now. Everybody thinks that we’re actually going to reach the South Pole in two days with the distance we’ve crossed, if the weather holds and we have no unexpected surprises.
This is incredibly exciting for everybody. You could really feel the excitement at camp today.
Dr. Heather Ross is travelling to the South Pole to raise awareness for heart disease.
Follow her Journey to the Bottom of the Earth exclusively on Yahoo! Canada.
