Arctic Trucks

Dear everyone, I just had a talk to Gísli, please see below.
 
Talk with Gisli, 17.11.09 at 22:00 GMT
 
Some of the nights have been extremely cold so we have rested in the cars.  We have are now camped for the third time and have reached 78:26 S and 13:12 E.   We still have about 600 km to go to the fuel drop at 83:26 S.
 
In general the trip has been going very well, when driving we have been averaging 20-25km/h and the fuel consumption has been close to 70 liters per 100km.   But now as we have less fuel the speed is increasing and the fuel consumption is falling, I have now left my trailer behind with fuel which we will use on the way back.  Besides what is in the fuel tanks we have about 1600 liters in 8 barrels still with us which should give us very good margin to reach the fuel drop.   We expect to be on the drop location in 2,5 days which will give us good time to mark a drop zone before the IL76 arrives the 21st.   Once we have gathered and organized the fuel barrels and made it ready for the scientist arriving in December we will head back to Novo.  The way back should be considerable easier and faster as they can use their own tracks and the fuel consumption should also fall considerable. 
 
Gisli review a bit back on the days behind, he said that using the ice radar had given them a new route through the mountains free of crevasses.  This will make crossing this area much safer in the future.  The route we used last year had us cross many crevasses so we got lucky last year.
 
Once we got through the mountain range we drove to the site where the Basler airplane had crashed last year and camped there.  It was very super cold and we could all feel the altitude.  We estimate that the temperature this night was close to minus 50C, the temperature meters in the cars showed maximum low (-40) and the weather station Andrei has also bottoms in -40.   I took two Vodka bottles out of the cars and I could watch it freeze.  We examined the plane and the area and sent a report back to Novo and then waited for a Twinotter to bring specialists from Canada to try to fix up the plane enough so they can hopefully fly it back to Novo but in Antarctica nothing can be left behind, the plane has to be removed one way or another.
 
Soon after the Twinotter arrived we continued, during the days with the sun high in the sky the temperature reached minus 20C but at nights it got so cold that everything got a bit difficult, we had i.e. problems with starting the cookers, we first need to pre-heat them and the fuel before we could get it to work.   As we are coming further south the sun is staying higher in the sky and it does not get as cold.   Tonight we had a steak, it was great.  Otherwise we have not been eating very healthy food mostly some snack and too few meals.   The cars are doing great, there have been no problems but we try to keep the tires more inflated when it gets really cold to reduce the risk of them cracking like we saw with two-three tires last year. 
 
It is really good to have Mike with me, so can take turn driving and he is doing very well.  He could really feel the cold and the altitude when we stopped at the airplane but he recovered as we got to a lower altitude.
 
As this is only the third time we camp the team is still learning the procedure to set up the camp, it is still taking us a long time but this will get better.

The expedition is going fine. They have already driven almost 600 kilometres but still have 850 to go to the fuel drop. The snow now is much easier to drive in than last year and they have managed to keep the speed at 20 km pr. hour.  The weather is fine, the sun is shining and the temperature is minus 20. It gets a lot colder during the night, last night all the thermometers in the cars went down to minus 40 which is a low as the thermometers show.  The vodka could only be outside for two minutes before it froze!  

They have now driven through the mountains onto the high plate.  This group seems to be handling the altitude better than the group last year. Never the less they can feel the headache and the power is a bit low.

When they came to the site where the Basler crashed last year they met a group of Russians that had been flown in to try to fix the Basler in such a way that it could be flown back to Novo for further repairs or dismantled.   They have now driven another 150 km towards the Fuel Depo.

Gísli Karel, who stayed behind in Novo to work on the two remaining cars, is ready with one the cars and the other one will be ready before he departs for Cape Town on the 20th of November.
His work has progressed faster than anyone expected, even though he is not getting any help and the working conditions are very primitive.  Otherwise he is comfortable in Novo.

The expedition to the fuel drop started this morning. Gísli, Freyr, Mike and Andrei are already off, driving in two cars. Gísli Karel stayed behind working on the cars, but if everything goes as planned he will be returning to Cape Town on 20th of November.

The first challenge is to find a way through the mountains up to the high plate. When we talked to them they had already driven 150 kilometres and on the front of the cars they had put some equipment that searches for crevasses. A much need equipment since there are crevasses all over in the area. The equipment is working fine and makes them a lot safer. But even so, one of the Hiluxes fell down a crevasse which they had not noticed and lay beside the car. It was not big and getting the car up was no problem.

They are already half way through the mountains and last night they slept in 1800 meters altitude. Next night the altitude will probably be close to 2500 meters. Hopefully they will manage to get through the mountains today and tomorrow they will head for the place of the fuel drop. 

This is a critical time of the expedition and hopefully the altitude will not make them sick. 

Gísli, Freyr and Gísli Karel have been working hard on the cars. All the four car got started without problems, those Hiluxes are something else! Two of the cars are almost ready for the expedition up to the high plate but most likely they will depart from Novo next Saturday.  They are expecting Mike’s flight to arrive early tomorrow morning.

They will be driving through the crevasse area and spend the night in 2200 meter altitude up to the fuel drop. There will be four persons driving in two cars; Gísli, Freyr, Mike and Andrei.  Another Russian will be joining when the plane brings in the fuel, but he is planning to jump down in a parasute. He used to be in the Russian Special Forces and is extremely experienced jumper.

Gísli Karel will stay behind in Novo and continue working on the two remaining cars. They have not got as much assistance as they expected and therefore Gísli Karel will have to work really hard back in Novo.

Otherwise everybody is doing fine and the spirit is very good.

Gísli, Freyr and Gísli Karel started their journey to Antarctica today when they flew from Cape Town to Novo Airbase in Antarctica.

This is Gísli's second visit to Antarctica in less than a year. Freyr was in Antarctica ten years ago but in a different part of the continent. Gísli Karel is going there for the first time!

The first few days they will be working on the cars. Two of them have been kept in a container since February but the other two are probably buried in snow since they have been standing outside in the extreme cold. It will be interesting to see how much work is needed to get them ready for new adventures!

Mike Herbert will be joining the other in just a few days.

We, who stay behind here in Iceland, wish them all the best and hopefully they will drive carefully and return home, safe and sound! 

The guys will be sending us news with their adventures and we will publish that here as soon as we hear from them.