FLIGHT CONFIRMED FOR TONIGHT

JAN 02

We are planning to leave from here in a few hours; the flight has been confirmed, later tonight.  It is a bit cloudy now but very nice weather.   I‘ve been trying to download the track from Gisli but the connection is too unstable.... (the connection was cut off)

Friday 2. Jan 2009 at 12:40

Hjalti





ON THE WAY TO THE NEW START LINE

JAN 01

After having driven the last 500 km in 40 hours, we rested at the old start line.  We are now up again and driving towards a new start line.  We will find a good spot to land on and then go back to the old start line get some fuel that is there and move it to the new start line.  The weather is good and the snow conditions fine.... (the connection was cut off)

Thursday  1. Jan 2009 at 19:30

Dr. Ian 





VERY, VERY TIRED!

DEC 31

We are at 82:22S and 17:11E, 35 km from the fuel drop, it has been going very well but we are all extremely tired.   The altitude is now 2564 meters.  Since yesterday evening we could keep up to 50 km/h using the cruise control.  I try to keep the speed down to reduce fuel consumption and to protect the low gear.   About 40 to 50 km back the conditions got heavier and we have been keeping about 10 km/h since then.   The thermometer in the car is not reading right (snow packed around it) but it feels very warm now I would guess it was only minus 5 centigrade.  We are going to continue to the fuel drop and have a rest there.  The start line has been moved 70 km south and it is now unclear when Hjalti and Tony will catch up with us, they returned to the ETL but I have not heard from them since sometime yesterday.   Tomorrow we will need to begin moving fuel to the start line to have fuel ready there when the airplane with the competitors comes in.  Until Hjalti and Tony arrive we will probably have to go back and forth transporting the film crew and equipment along the race line.  

Our best, Gisli.

December 31st, time 12:10.





THREE DAYS DELAY

DEC 31

We are back with the competitors at the ETL.  The weather has been really bad and it has not been possible for the airplane to fly and pick up the competitors and move them to the start line.  We now have a food for a very long wait and we will stay with them until a flight is confirmed.   We are now looking at 2nd or 3rd January for the flights.  As this delays the start by 3 days I‘ve also decided to move the start line closer to the South Pole to keep the scheduled flights with the competitors back from the South Pole.   I‘ve asked Gisli and Kenny to find a good landing spot for the airplane about 70 – 75 km further south of the old start line / the fuel drop.  They will now have to do our job until we can catch up with them.

Wednesday 31. Des 2008, at 12:00

Tony (the race organizer)





TRACKS OF THE ROUTE ON ANTARCTICA

DEC 30
We now have two pictures with the tracks of the route on Antarctica in our Photo Gallery. Click here to take a look!



WAITING FOR THE WEATHER TO IMPROVE

DEC 30

We are returning to the ETL, the weather has now delayed the arrival of the airplane 2 or 3 days meaning the competitors waiting there will have to start using the reserve food.  In case of any additional delay we need to stock them up with more food.   The past two, three days have been a total white out and our progress has been limited anyway so we will save our energy and head back towards the start line as soon as the weather improves.   It is only minus 10 now.

Hjalti V. Hjaltason





GOING SLOWLY BUT SURELY

DEC 30

We are at: 78:29:631S and 13:14:290E, we are still above 3000 meters, the GPS shows 3065 meters.   The snow conditions are fairly good, we are sinking about 15 cm in and the surface is even.   It is fairly easy to drive but we are really trying to keep the fuel consumption down so we limit our speed to 15 km/h.    We have been driving 100km since 2am this morning and we intend to continue driving for the next 30 hours aiming at being at the start line when the airplane brings in the competitors. We now have about 450 km to go.  I‘m taking a rest, Dr. Ian is driving now and we will take turns.  The temperature is -21 and some wind, the visibility is a bit heavy but still I could see the last fuel drop  4-5 km away.  I heard from Hjalti yesterday and they were moving 15-20 km/h but they still have not reached the 400 km mark.   I could not install the Garmin software on the notebook computer we have got so there is no easy way to send the track back to Hjalti but I will call him and give him they way points.   But if the visibility is not good he is not going to be able to find our track anyway, even Kenny could not see or follow my track even though I had a rope to his car, the wind fills the track in a few seconds. 

 

Gísli Jónsson





DRIVING IN MINUS 27 DEGREES AND 15-20 METER WIND

DEC 29
We are at 77:19 North and 12:31 East, it is going faster after we reach 77 degrees, we have left one of the trailer behind and we are traveling together now.   Yesterday I had to return back for Kenny as he was stuck, it was simple to get him out but he was lost on what to do.   He is doing very well but he does not have the experienced needed for these conditions, he had lost almost the air out of one of the tire and already damaged it.   He did not like the idea of being left behind anymore and I also better monitor the conditions on his car as well.  So now I‘m driving ahead with a rope tied to his car, he is pulling one trailer and occasionally I need to pull him.   After about 37 km we will drop of some more fuel so I‘m hopeful that we will be able to move even faster after that.   Our altitude now is 3.181 meters and the temperature is minus 27 centigrade.  The wind is about 15-20meter per sec. from north.  There seems to be allot of new snow here and we are seeing sastrukies again.  The fuel consumption is considerable higher than we calculated although it is coming down now with improved conditions.   The cars are in good shape although this has been tough on them.  We have been driving in the crawler gear for the last 400 km and the gearing is hot all the time.  One of the fuse holders in Kenny’s car has a loose connection but this is not a problem.   We have had two or three days of clear weather but mostly we have been driving in a white out.  I heard from Hjalti that they are having problem with visibility as well.   I‘m having problem speaking to Hjalti as the connection keeps braking and the long distance radios don’t work this far apart.




Byggir á LiSA vefumsjónarkerfi frá Eskli