Happy New Decade to all!

This group photo was taken a few weeks back now and was used as a "Seasons Greetings" image which was sent to all the other bases here in Antarctica. As an image of unity I thought i would use it for my New Years/Decade post.

With 24-hour daylight and no fixed time-zone and so many nationalities here on base, which moment we use to celebrate the New Year is a bit of a mystery. Do we celebrate it when the clock strikes midnight in the UK, do we celebrate the actual GMT New Year for our location, the South African new year, Australian , New Zealand or designated time for the base on either Shift 1 or Shift 2. (Its all a bit of a muddle).

So tonight I've decided that as the Sun does its little pirouette in the sky, when I look up I will note its position and try and picture where in the world the shift is happening from one day to the next. As I do my thoughts will be with that part of the world and the people there wishing them a Happy New Year and New Decade and all the best for 2010 and what the next 10 years has in store.

:-)

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First Ship Arrives -The Igarka (Photo)

Credit goes to Adrian McCallum for this dramatic photo of the Russian cargo ship (Igarka) arriving at the ice edge earlier today.

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First Ship Arrives

Back in the olden days ships used to get stuck in the ice. They would remain stuck until they either became crushed or the ice broke up freeing the ship from its icey grip.

These days with a presence in these regions we have established ways to avoid this happening. With satellite technology and GPS navigation ships can now navigate these frozen seas with relative ease. That said sometimes the ice is just too thick to get through and when this happens the ship becomes stuck within a maze of dead ends and frustration. For the last week the main cargo ship (Igarka) has been battling through the conditions with very little success and the second ship not far behind suffering the same conditions.

The "Igarka" was trapped within an area of sea ice adjacent to the "Stancomb Wills" an natorious area many a ship has become trapped. The area where the "Igarka" had become trapped was also not to far from where Shackltons Endurance became stuck.

Where as Shackleton had no support these days we have a fleet of light aircrafts and yesterday one of these "Twin-Otter" planes went out to try and determine a route. After only an hour of flying a route was identified and the ship was able to follow the route and free its self from the ice. The route was communicated in the form of GPS way-points and nothing more complicated than those shown bellow: Directions given to ship:

Way Point 1 - 73° 41’S, 27° 24’W – area of 7/10 ice with circular floe in middle on bend of wake. Bearing approx. 280°
Way Point 2 - 73° 39’S, 27° 28’W – small area of open water. Bearing approx. 246° following meandering lead
Way Point 3 - 73° 41’S, 27° 36’W – large area of open water Bearing approx. 245° following leads bearing round to 233°
Way Point 4 - 73° 47’S, 28° 01’W – large area of open water. Bearing approx. 235° Way Point 5 - 73° 57’S, 28° 54’W – very large area of open water.
Way Point 6 - 74° 02’S, 28° 51’W – large area of open water just west of a large berg. Bearing approx 170° Way Point 7 - 74° 12’S, 28° 51’W – Bearing approx 160° - still following arching lead
Way Point 8 - 74° 27’S, 28° 19’W – start of open seas
Way Point 9 – 75° 29’S, 26° 54’W - Creek 3 Halley (Destination).

This morning the news came in that the Igarka had successfully made it to Creek 3. For now technology has prevailed :-)

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Way Points Image.pdf (179 KB)

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Fortitudine Vincimus - "by endurance we conquer"

The photo posted here is a classic and very dramatic photography taken by Frank Hurley during the Endurance expedition. Its a photo of the ship named "Endurance" trapped within the sea ice and currently we have a very similar situation with the two ships we are waiting for here who are currently within the same area of frozen Weddell sea. For those who don't know the story of this expedition is possibly one of the greatest survival stories of all time:

Endurance was Shackleton's third polar expedition which came in the wake of the tragic death of Robert Falcon Scott who died in his efforts to be the first person to reach the South Pole. Unfortunately Scott didn't only lose his life but also the race to the pole. With England having lost a hero and both poles to the Norwegians, Shackleton was determined to claim the final prize and be the first to cross the Antarctic by foot. Therfore only a week after the first world war had began, Shackleton and his crew of twenty-seven seamen and scientists set sail on the Endurance disappearing of the map for nearly two years.

The Endurance - a 300 ton wooden barquentine. She was 144 feet long, built of planks of oak and Norwegian fir. Equipped with both sail and coal-fired steam engine she was, it seemed, ideally equipped to withstand the ice. Her original name was Polaris which Shackleton renamed Endurance after his family motto: Fortitudine Vincimus - "by endurance we conquer".

Surrounding the continent of Antarctica is a band of frozen sea called pack ice. For Shackleton and the men of the Endurance the pack ice of the Weddell Sea was worse than anyone had previously encounted. The Endurance began following leads (breaks in the ice) to navigate through, on route to its intended landfall (not far from where I am currently stationed). Just one day's sail from the Antarctic continent within eighty-five miles of the coast the ship Endurance was trapped and frozen fast for ten months. The Endurance was slowly crushed by ice pressure, forcing the men to abandon ship and setup camp on the ice. The men camped on drifting ice floes for five months. Then finally open water appeared. They launched their three lifeboats the men set off through stormy seas until taking refuge on a rocky, uninhabited outcropping called Elephant Island. Shackleton knew that his already weak men would never survive on this desolate spot and therefore decided to attempt the impossible and try to cross the sea on an incredible seventeen-day, 800-mile journey, in freezing hurricane conditions, to the nearest civilization - South Georgia Island. Amazingly the James Caird lifeboat miraculously landed on the island, having achieved what is now considered one of the greatest boat journeys in history. Once on land, Shackleton and two of his men still had to trek across the mountains of South Georgia, before finally reaching the island's remote whaling stations where they organized a rescue team, and returned to save all of the men left behind on Elephant Island. Not one man lost his life on the Endurance expedition and in Endurance Shaclketon really did conquer!

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Round up of week 3 of Antarctic Marathon Training

I have included the photo of the Penguins as a bit of a smokescreen mainly as this post is actually a bit of a boring one. Its quite long and I don't actually talk much about anything of any substance. It is however all stuff I felt I had to say otherwise I may loose the whole thread of these Runderland posts amidst a total lack of future focus and therefore had to pull it together. (If anyone has checked out this post and does feel a bit cheated hopefully the Penguins offer a bit of eye candy in return. These penguins visited the base a few weeks ago and there is a bit of a story to their visit which I will talk about another time!)

The audio post is basically an 11 min ramble mostly about me complaining about lack of time and focus. I talk briefly about my "Snowshadow Micro-Voice-Blog" which I will be using to send short direct audio messages through posterous and the pipes it shoots down. I also try to quickly say thanks to Steve Chopper & everyone who contributed to his pod-cast for their effort to send me some festive cheer (Thanks guys much appreciated :-) And lastly I try to mention a little bit about my running during the last week.

:-)

  
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Week 3.amr (1122 KB)

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Christmas Skidoo Ride! (Video)

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Santa Skidoo Ride.wmv (2024 KB)

A short video of the Skidoo ride that took a group of us to our Christmas Dinner. (If Santa came to Antarctica I am sure this would be his chosen form of transport).

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Round up of Week 2 Antarctic Marathon Training (Audio + Pic)

I recorded my "Runderland Weekly Roundup" last night but because of bandwidth issues I couldn't upload it. Today I decided to re-recorded the post and tried to re-send it at lunchtime (but I couldn't, once again due to bandwidth issues). Since lunchtime something rather awesome has made itself known to me in the form of a podcast from my good friend @stevechopper of Twitter and the amilewithme podcast over at http://www.amilewith.me.uk

Unfortunately I can't listen to this podcast right now (again due to bandwidth issues) but I will do so the moment I manage to download a copy (hopefully overnight :-) Having read the text on his blog and having seen who has contributed to it, iam very excited to listen to it. So much that I did even consider not posting this audio and recording a new post after I had listened to it. However my logical head has told me to do this post anyway as a record a moment in time. Once I’ve listened to Steves podcast I will do a separate post later in the week and make it my special Xmas update :-)

  
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Runderland Roundup Week 2.amr (584 KB)

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Feeling the onset of Fatigue

  
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VN00030-20091216-2255.amr (403 KB)

The fatigue has started so I had to skip a run to try and combat it :-(

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Round Up of Week 1 of Antarctic Marathon Training (Audio)

  
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VN00023-20091213-1428.amr (533 KB)

This is a quick round up of the first week of Marathon training. Unfortunately I have left my Garmin back at the sleeping quarters so I will update this text tommorow with a breakdown of what we did on each day.

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Should I grow a beard?

Last time I was here in Antarctica I grew a beard. I quite enjoyed the liberating feeling of growing one but didn't enjoy the rejection I felt on returning home, after being away for over three months and the reaction of Emma (my girlfriend) when on seeing it she screamed and then ran, whilst at the same time making threats "to chop my head off" if I didnt sort it quick. Not the reunion I had envisaged and it left me I feeling like I had made a big mistake by not shaving it off before my return. I have therefore promised Emma that this time I wouldn't grow one or at the very least not return with one.

Now beards are not all bad and I find them a little bit facinating, the definition of a beard (according to Wikipedia) is : "A beard is the hair that grows on a person's chin, cheeks, neck, and the area above the upper lip. Typically, only males going through puberty or post-pubescent males are able to grow beards. However, women with hirsutism may develop a beard. When differentiating between upper and lower facial hair, a beard specifically refers to the facial hair on the lower part of a man's chin (excluding the moustache, which refers to hair above the upper lip and around it). The study of beards is called pogonology".

Even though Beards are worth studying they in them self are not clever but that said Wikipedia does go on to state that "in the course of history, men with facial hair have been ascribed various attributes such as wisdom and knowledge, sexual virility, masculinity, or high social status". However in Emma's world beards are associated with "filthiness, crudeness, or an eccentric disposition, such as in the case of a bum, hobo, hippie or vagrant". Beards are mostly associated with nature and outdoorsmen and in particular probably one of the only things that grows whilst in the Antarctic.

I have been here now for just over three weeks, and with a lack of reflective surfaces on base, I don't get to see my reflection as often as I do back home, so today I was a little bit taken back when I looked in mirror and saw that a beard was starting to appear on my face. With three weeks growth it is not a full blown beard but it is a start of something and the question is do I let it grow or shave it all off? Or do I stick to the original promise to Emma and not grow one bucking the Antarctic seasonal fashion trend and go for the clean shaven look? (Must admit I do fancy trying to go for the Kurt Russell "The Thing" look but I guess I would have to do a lot more than grow a breard to look anything like Kurt Russell. :-)

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Antarctic-Social Running VS Anti-Social Running (Audio Post)

Topic for tonights post: In a week that has seen the start of my Marathon training plan and the formation of our Run-Walking group, I have quickly forseen the potential of a future dilemma. This dilemma will be.... do I stick with the group and enjoy the social aspect of fellow Run-Walkers or if this becomes a handicap do I turn my back on them for the pursuit of my own personal goals?

  
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VN00021-20091211-2211.amr (606 KB)

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My Second Antarctic Run (Audio)

  
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VN00019-20091208-2201.amr (423 KB)

My 2nd Antarctic run "Plog" ...Please note that I was distracted at the end of the recording, someone was looking at me strange because I seemed to be on the phone (not possible due to no networks)...but I have been using my Blackberry to record audio notes (hence the confussion). As a result I lost my train of thought and therefore forgot to mention that I sparined my ankle right at the end of the run :-( But it should be ok for the next run on Thursday and hopefully I can get some video :-)

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An Antarctic Fog

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VID 00136-20091208-2239.3GP (3629 KB)

Just updated my Shadowcast blog and then no sooner had I posted it, I looked out the window and saw this rather cool fog creeping in.... ...Please note also that its 11:00PM and the Sun is still high :-)

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Riding in one of those @Arctictrucks (Video)

>From: "Philip Moneypenny"

>To:
>Date: December 09, 2009 02:05:10 AM GMT
>Subject: Riding in one of those @Arctictrucks
>
>
>
>I was introduced to @arctictrucks via Twitter early this year through a good pal @cewtwo.
>
>Via a couple of tweets I discovered that a couple of these vehicles would be at the Russian base "Novo" when I arrived in Antartctica three weeks ago. So as you can imagine this has been a really exciting thing for me to see them for myself, especially as I found them through social media and the power of social networks. >
>& Way back when I first heard of them I didnt for one second think I would actually get to see them never mind ride in one (very ...very cool bits of cold weather kit).
>
>Any how I hope you like this short video, please also be aware that due to my computing problems this video is very low quality, but when I get home promise I will do a HD version. Hopefully this video will give you a feel for how brilliant these things are....also keep in mind they are driving on very bumpy ice. >
>You can find out more at http://www.arctictrucks.com/ or follow them on twitter @arctictrucks >
>:-)
>

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First Antarctic Run (Audio Post)

  
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VN00018-20091206-1847.amr (301 KB)

Start of my Audio Running Blog (Whilst here in Antarctica).

>Please excuse the wind problem, in future I will try and shelter my Phone when I record audio.

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First Antarctic Run (Short Video)

>
>This is just a short clip filmed on Blackberry phone whilst out for my first Antarctic Run today. >(3 miles in 40 mins). >
>

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VID 00132-20091206-1820.3GP (1935 KB)

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VoIP Blows

  
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VN00017-20091203-1954.amr (407 KB)

Due to a whole host of reasons its been well over a week since I last posted anything. The main two reasons have been the weather and wasting hours ring to make phonecalls back home over a satalite internet connection. The audio part of this post is a bit boring and is basically me trying to vent some frustration at the many failed attempts to phone home.

The video part of this post was recorded on my Blackberry phone so the quality is rubbish and the sound quality was even worse, but for now its the best I can manage. Because the audio was so bad I had to add some music just to mask the bad quality so please excuse the lack of speech coming from my mouth. Also because I had no editing software Ive made use of www.jaycut.com to do the editing. This is a really cool tool if your dependant on cloud computing as I find my self now my mac is dead. However because my connection is so bad (something like a a 56K) I am working effectively blind...hopefully it gives a taster of what things are like.

:-)

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