Antarctic Tears: Determination, adversity, and the pursuit of a dream at the bottom of the world by Aaron Linsdau

Author:Aaron Linsdau [Linsdau, Aaron]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sastrugi Press
Published: 2014-07-05T21:00:00+00:00

DAYS 25-34

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2012, DAY 25

THE SLEDS HAVE RECEIVED names based on their personalities, Charlie Red and Charlie Blue. The colors were for the sled bags. They were named after Charlie, my expedition manager’s peculiar pug who was often reluctant to come out of his kennel, needing to be coaxed out. These sleds were reluctant to move and liked to stick in sastrugi pits, hence their names. With Blue’s skis broken, I moved the 20-pound electronics and supplies bag to Red when loading the sleds this morning, making Blue as light as possible, keeping the drag force balanced. With that change made, I’ll now do 75-minute travel sessions with 10 minute breaks. During the day, I was able to eat a food bar and chug my water in 9 minutes, only gagging once. It was not pleasant but it did work. How in the world Hannah McKeand takes 10 minute breaks was still a mystery to me. My efficiency needed a serious upgrade. I still had to shuffle water bottles, grab more food and relieve myself. After doing this trip five times, she must have it down to a science.

The major fear right now was that the skis on Charlie Red would break away. If that happened, I was not sure what I’d end up doing to manage sled drag. Gamme broke and then lost the skis on his sled, and I was sure others have dropped dead weight. They were a dead five pounds. It was tempting to dump the skis I’ve been carrying, as they broke off the sled on November 23rd. My idea was to keep a spare ski in case mine broke. Without tools, a vise and drill, it was impossible to replace the broken ski bracket.

I suffered a huge drift to the east [left] today. The winds were near 30 knots, shoving me far off course. I had adjusted my course windward to compensate. This time the wind misaligned my navigation, wasting valuable travel distance in lateral motion. While all this was happening, the song “Monster Mash” played in my head all day. I learned to embrace rather than fight whatever song stuck in my mind. As I have a decent library of tunes in my head, I had little use for the iPods I brought.

My first attempts to emulate Hannah’s schedule failed because I needed to adjust my clothing to fit the new regimen, as I generated far more heat. After a half hour, I was on fire, even with strong winds and -20ºF temperatures. But after making some adjustments, I felt more comfortable. I ended up towing with light clothing.

On breaks, I found five chugs of water upon stopping and then another four chugs after eating kept me from feeling parched. Each chug was roughly one ounce of water. I gagged on the cookies, but I chewed down the first food without issue. I’d forgotten to break up the second food bar last night, so I had to crunch it apart without breaking teeth.

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