November 27 Mercedes:
  For the moment we decided not to go to Torres del Poaine, at least until we have everything ready for the South Pole. I think it was a wise decision because once we started to plan and pack, many things were missing. Again a calm day became a chaotic one with a long list of activities to be done: packing the rest of the food in daily bags for the Pole, do more groceries, fix Piggy's tire that in the last couple of days has been flat (we've had to fix it almost everyday), find the stuff we will need for the Blister Kit and blah, blah, blah.

The day flew by and I am feeling like I am in the middle of a cloud with many feelings running in my mind; uncertainties, doubts, worries. Then I get a paralyzing moment when I realize what being in Punta Arenas involves for us: we finished after seven months our cycling section, that means not jumping on the bike every morning, not pushing to be on time to the next city for a presentation or a project. The South America map is resting in some corner of the vehicle with nobody worried about checking the next point on the journey. We have become very aware that it is now, finally, Antarctica. The expedition is not finished, but the end is starting to be very present in our minds and I think that many thoughts and feelings are growing within us: nerves, excitement, tiredness, sad to say "see you soon!" when we know that for us "soon" involves more time than what we want to express. But over all of that, it is the happiness and a complete sensation that I feel when I see all the sacrifice and commitment of so many people coming to an end. Everything started from a dream and today I can clearly see that magic point where every dream can become a reality. If I need to describe myself in one word at this moment, only one pops into my mind: ALIVE. How a friend of mine would like to say to me, "Animo, animo!" We are so close.

November 28 Heidi:
  After deciding to catch the next possible flight to Antarctica yesterday, today has been a whirlwind of preparation. Packing personal gear, packing food, and taking pictures for the Chilean newspapers has been the agenda for the day, but it sounds a lot easier than it really is. Flashes of memories during training of preparing for the North Pole visit me throughout the day as we set out the 120 bags that we will need for each day of food. Each is carefully filled with oatmeal, hot chocolate, crackers, cookies, butter, rice or potatoes, soup, juice, cheese, sausage, chocolate, candies and nuts. Each item is cherished at the Pole, so we spend the extra effort checking and rechecking, knowing that if something is missing we will miss it. Because of the intense cold, we will be eating around 8000 calories a day, when around 2500 is the norm. And so we keep going: preparing and checking, counting and rechecking. Fur ruffs need to be sewn onto hats to cut the Antarctic wind, ropes have to be tied onto zippers so our big-gloved hands can grasp them, journals have to be weatherized, skins have to be nailed onto skis, overbooties screwed onto boots. Preparing for the South Pole, preparing for thirty days on the ice, preparing for the beginning of the end.

November 29 Naoki:
 I couldn't stop coughing since last midnight. My cold is getting worse day by day. I keep asking myself why I've got a cold now? Why just before the Antarctica trip? I am disappointed that I couldn't control my health and my body. We finished dividing the food this afternoon. The food is much heavier than the food we took to the North Pole. This is because we won't have any resupply. We are going to take all the food for the entire 30 days and spare gear in each sled. OK, we can leave whenever the plane can leave. We are ready for departure! Now it's 10:00 PM and I can still see the sun light. Clouds are moving very fast as usual, and the color of the sky is orange like when fire begins to burn paper. Dylan is sleeping in front of me, Renaud has sneezed already. I should go to bed. Hopefully I will see good dreams tonight....?

November 30 Jay:
  It's the last day of another month again. Now...it's just December left!! We are still preparing the gear and food for Antarctica. We are still not really sure when we are going to leave. However, I think it is good to have some time before getting to Antarctica, because now we are preparing well, taking some rest, gaining some energy to finish our journey successfully. And...having some time to be a little lazy :) . It's been a long journey till now. We've traveled a lot. I feel totally fine to be little lazy, actually. So . . . It's good! Again we're still not sure when we gonna leave, but as soon as that moment comes up, we'll be more than happy to be active for sure, but now...it's time to be lazy. (I slept seven hours last night, and took a nap for seven hours this afternoon :) !!!)

December 1 Jessica:
  Today was truly an Antarctic experience. We started off by going to the penguin habitat. We spent a couple of hours there, observing the cute little things...the way they wobble, short wings at side, head up, breast out, feet out... the way they peck at themselves, bending at the neck and reaching nearly their webbed feet, or else necking with another, the way they feed, jumping into the ocean in groups of three or four and then joining the other hundreds at the shoreside when finished. I must say, I very much wanted to catch one and take it home with me as a pet. I love the way they wobble, wobble, wobble, then bloop...they fall right on their faces barely catching themselves with their beaks, then they struggle to get up. So I figure that I could help one up and then keep it. But no, I decided that maybe they are better off with the rest of their friends.

I arrived home quite sleepy and decided to take a nap. Right as I lay down, Martyn called from the Adventure Network office to inform us that they needed two of us to help load and unload fuel in Antarctica, Prince George Island to be exact. To be fair, we put everyone who wanted to go in a drawing. Devlin and I were the lucky ones and had to leave right away. I cannot explain how exciting it was. We helped roll the enormous barrels of fuel onto the huge Hercules aircraft, 70 total. The flight lasted nearly 3 hours. The SAFAIR crew let us go into the cockpit when we took off and landed and when we passed over huge glaciers and incredible peaks. Some of the most incredible scenery I've seen, mostly covered in white, with a few patches of brown splattered around on the islands, glorious blue-green glaciers, sporadic chunks of icebergs.... The runway was gravel and ended very abruptly, with a cliff less than four meters away. We unloaded the fuel quickly and helped the Korean crew board. We served them drinks and snacks and they in return gave us Korean candy, gum, chocolate. Quite an exchange :) Overall, a superb first time flight to Antarctica!

December 2 Renaud:
  We're back in the waiting time: waiting for the money and paper details to get ready - hopefully before the plane leaves - and waiting for the plane to leave. After the mid-week rush of a possible flight, the penguin break of yesterday, I spent my day finishing my own stuff which actually has a lot to do with Pole to Pole next year. I did also rest, waking up only around 10:00. I then went to town for the first time; I'm definitely in another world: seeing the activity of a Saturday afternoon and people not going from one Pole to the other seems nearly strange! Tonight we've had the big piece of news: the paper - money details are OK, and we'll be on the next flight which should leave on Tuesday morning if the weather is fine. Personally, it gives me some more time to prepare other things. I'm pretty vague . . . that's no secret though. It's just not incredibly interesting: re-formatting my laptop and searching the net about sustainable development. Well, anyway, now you know!

Finally, I'd like to finish what may be my last web site update from civilization by an overlook on the team's cycle. After the honeymoon, the small clashes period, the "I'll try to change to better fit the team", the "who is guilty", or the "I don't care and would rather close my eyes, and anyway I don't want to change that much", I think we finally reached a pretty comfortable stage - after nine months (!), the time it takes for creating a human ... Here is how I see things: we all feel the end coming nearby; we have less events scheduled; more time for us; some more comfort also; and we know each other not too bad. So we can talk more freely to each other, have more fun together. Hard to describe but basically, things are much smoother in the group and far lighter. I would not have bet on this at the beginning, and probably even less in the middle, but we're getting along pretty well, or maybe I am finally coming to get along well with the others ... The South Pole looks like the final gift and pretty simple and relaxing to me now: certainly a few windy feelings on my face might alter a little bit of this golden idea Antarctica. Let's wait and see! See you.

December 14 Dylan:
 Today we wait, perhaps tomorrow we fly, our uncertainties seem easily defined in my mind when you combine the silliness of modern schedules, goals and logistics with one of the wildest places on earth where nature's rein shall not be slackened. I am going inward where it could be said I am comfortable but where I have spent a vast majority of my life and this journey. For me to explore the outer world without the balance of exploring the inward one would be like going to the zoo without seeing the animals. And what has that meant for me on this journey? It's meant I sometimes feel isolated in myself; it's meant I sometimes fall in the shade of my own shadow; but most of all it has meant discovery. Discovery of what? Discovery of dichotomy, of happiness and sadness, of extreme heat and cold, of hatred and love, of despair and hope. Of many of these I have observed and all have I felt within and seen without, but today and on this journey and to finish this journey it is of the latter I wish to share but first...

I came to Pole to Pole with ideas, and ideals. Ideas of which I've shared, ideals which have been evolved by the experiences that were not mine and have now become mine. Everyone always said you can't change the world, and who am I but to believe them on one hand and hope on the other that I can prove them wrong. There was no one more powerful thing than the opportunity to make a difference which attracted me to Pole to Pole. Oh for sure I love great adventure (it's part of who I am), but that was only the bait, when I read that newspaper article there was more, there was more to read between the lines. As I read in my mind my heart read between the lines and I knew that there was more. When I read the application form I was sold. Imagine I, small town Dyl could make a difference in the world. I never believed an opportunity as this could come to anyone, never mind me! In my memory and in my sentiments I recall myself pulling from my deepest core the feeling, then the thought, then the words: "it's the vision", when put on the spot about our true intentions for wishing to participate in Pole to Pole, "it's the vision ".... and if that was the truth then where has that brought me? It has brought me many physical (feats, goals, achievements?), but more it has brought me from the inside out and let more of the outside within me. A bumpy road in Nicaragua, a maybe seven year-old girl runs beside the road. She is breathless, but still running for the chance that this gringo might spare a peso, I pretend to not notice, but the stammering of hearing her breath as she pushes herself to the limit of her minimal physical capacity is unignorable. A young man in a small Nicaraguan village whose only comment when seeing some pictures of our journey was "so you plant some trees, clean up some rivers - what's the point"!!!!....... A smelly street corner whose odour is diminished by the mortal screaming of a young homeless child, thrashing himself on the street, trying desperately to attract attention yet vividly violent towards any curious would be do-gooders. On the next block, a mother has her boy up on a small block showing the full body burns which he carries (or were given to him) and asks for monetary help. This is Guayaquil, Ecuador - in the good part of town. They told us not to go in the other part because " they'll kill you". Leaving Costa Rica (central America's most prosperous and most First World country) on its independence day, I carry grim cynicism as we near the Panamanian border and cross several "Indian reserves". Whose independence day is this, I ask? Celebrating the independence of a nation whose ancestors purged an entire people, a people whose ancestors are still (in my mind) suffering the results of imperialistic ideals, despite the facade of democracy and justice. How about a shanty town on the outskirts of Lima (in which the mass of the populace dwells) where millions live in little more than plywood shacks, barely subsisting, yet searching for opportunity, any opportunity. How can I look at those young people so eager for any opportunity and not see also a mass of youth in America sulking over "what they've got" and wishing they could have more? I cannot allow myself to see the truth when I compare the glitter of hope in a youngster's eyes with the reality of a life destined for little more than survival. How about ten broken, stick-like men in northern Honduras clearing and burning what little forest already is not cleared. Only to expose grim boulders which they and their oxen stumble over without choice, forced to try to grow something... to eat. I laugh in sadness as we pass tree farm after tree farm in the mountains of Peru. Why am I laughing? Because this is the "forest": row upon neatly tidied row of trees, and nothing in between. I shiver as the images of British Columbia's Mountain forests, cut and pruned in nice neat tidy rows, plagues my mind. "The future?", I ask. "What future?", I ask? This is a small piece of what Vie seen through my eyes, and why I feel despair. And, as much as I can be cynical, as St. Francis of Assisi said, "where there is despair - ......hope". What is the hope I have to share? No, I didn't save anyone, not even really help anyone, but my mind has been mentally liberated by this trip and specifically by the spirit of youth. That spirit first made itself apparent in the beginning of the journey in Resolute bay. We had finished our trip, about to fly south to begin cycling. It was fairly pleasant out for the young boys kicking the soccer ball, maybe minus 10. I watched them for awhile, screaming, shouting, unaware of my presence boys at play in the glory of youth. Soon there were calls and all dispersed in the direction of home, or so I assumed for such a timely departure. All except for one who seemed a little dismal lest he be left alone to play on his own. I saw my chance. I skidded out onto the icy road, a silly white guy in a poofy orange jacket, silly but accepted openly by the youngster whose only intention seemed to be to kick a soccer ball and have a little fun. And we did. I dodged and kicked. He faked and kicked and we laughed. Gazes from nearby windows and porches were apparent but unrecognizable to me at the time. Just me and him and a soccer ball. It was soon after he picked up the ball and left, not more than a gesture was exchanged and he was gone and I was left alone in the street, a small snow drift blown across my path my only recollection of life in this quiet place.

Central Nicaragua: Drenched with sweat (and I hadn't even biked yet!), I felt "The Pig" grind to a halt and Kung Soo and Sung Soo got out to have a cigarette. Between the blistering heat and the few broken-down dingy shacks I saw outside, I didn't have much desire to exit but I did for the sake of being a tourist. The first thing I remember was the eyes, the eyes of several very young children looking contrastingly through dark, dirty faces. There were other eyes too, the eyes of their parents and other "gringo-wary " adults. But the youthful eyes were not on our skin, or the snazzy looking garments we sported, they were looking at something else: Futbol! A four year-old child holding up a soccer ball in front of 6'4" Kung Soo was a classic picture. Cigarette in mouth, Kung Soo motioned for him to give it a kick, and he followed. Before we knew it, we had the ball going around, over logs, off heads and funnest of all with kids - between giggles. We must have only stayed for five minutes, and I don't know if any of the others over ten years of age people had grins on their faces, but one gringo and two chinos sure did and even better were the smiles which almost appeared to sparkle from the faces of the children. At the time I considered this a cool experience and felt there was more to it but it wasn't until a few months later that the layers would begin to penetrate.

San Jose de los Andes, Southern Patagonia. We had just completed a presentation to a local high school and were waiting for Naoki to arrive from traveling with the camera crew when I had my third experience of note. Walking back from the gas station, I was working on trying to resist the temptation to get in the van and rest when I caught something from the side of the gas station: a group of young boys, hulked together like a pack of dogs, intently eyeing me up and down as if assessing me as worth testing. In the arms of one young boy was held a soccer ball... I moved first. I don't know what it was, I just knew I had to go and talk to them. What was I going to say I thought as I rambled in my mind through my Spanish vocabulary. And the lesson began. I said nothing, just motioned for them to throw the ball out on the tarmac and give it a kick. In the centre street of town, whose main traffic was the constant lull of the wind and the odd tumbleweed we initiated our process. They returned and we began to play. It was me against them, it was all of us together, it was who was silliest, it was who could keep the ball away from Dylan the longest. And it was mostly without words. I don't know how long we played for, and I don't know what difference it made to them, but it moved me. Here I had almost traversed the globe and in three opposite parts of the earth. I had connected with these children, no language required, no formalities, no bullshit; just a soccer ball and a desire to play. I may be jumping to conclusions but I think they were not measuring up in great detail my ethnic, religious, cultural and economic background. I don't think they were researching my country's foreign economic policy in their country. No. I think they were measuring up who I was and how that related to who they were. I think their language is still in the heart and that is the greatest lesson of hope I can take from this journey. The youth, the children have a message for us all that in the future they aren't going to be solely interested in communicating through the past and through the mind, but for the future through the heart. If I could say one thing it would be: Listen to the children...Listen to the children. They are wiser than given credit for. Listen to their other language and to that same language within yourself. So that is some of my world through the paradox of my own reality. Knowing this may be the last substantial report I do I wish I had some thing I could say to wrap up. There is no wrapping up. Only, more steps to be taken. On the line between hope and despair lies a steady struggle - within me, within the world. With this, I leave these words and I hope leaving judgments and deductions behind, take only memories and data with me to a frozen continent whose loneliness and beauty may teach me again.

December 5 Renaud:
  The plane could not go yesterday: the propeller needs some fixing. So we could go today. But in the afternoon the parts are still a little bit late and around six we learn that repairing and weather were not too much with us. So it was another day of resting, working the last details or preparing the return that kept us busy. Feelings of deja vu with the flight from Resolute Bay to the Magnetic North Pole. Let's see what tomorrow will bring.

December 5 Renaud:
  It's 11:30. This morning, half asleep around 9:30, I heard: "they come to pick up the bags to load the plane at 10:15." Jumped out of my sleeping bag, went finishing my packing, and after had breakfast. Now, I'm finishing the rest of the packing, sending this quick word, going to take a last shower, and leaving for the check-in. We'll leave only if the weather doesn't get worse: it's just good enough right now ... Time will tell. Humans are under the laws of nature and have to accept and enjoy it. Merry Christmas and happy new year.

December 5 Mercedes:
  Early in the morning Martyn and I went to finish the last papers we needed to sell the vehicles, incredible that everything is ready now. The uncertainty about our flight finished in the afternoon, when the phone rang and someone from ANI announced to us that in an hour and a half we should be ready to fly to Antarctica. I started to feel nervous and anxious. I calmed myself down by calling my family and organizing the last of my equipment. The plane is a huge and noisy Hercules; very austere, with three little windows in each side with many rows of seats. We took off after 11pm with at least six hours of flying. Once in the plane, the atmosphere changed and the nervousness became happiness and enthusiasm. Really it's hard to believe that we are here.

December 6 Heidi:
  We arrived at Patriot Hills at 5:30 am to be greeted by the incredibly expansive whiteness around us. What magnificence. What an amazing opportunity. How lucky we are. We spent the day getting oriented, organizing our gear and resting. In the afternoon we took a ski-trip up to Windy Pass to test out our sleds and gear. We had to cross frozen, blue ice, and, with the sun's reflection, it looked like we were walking on crystals... It was yet another reminder that we are in a magical place.

December 7 Jessica:
  Today we found out that there has been a miscommunication in terms of the aircraft we are supposed to take to the Theil Mountains where we are starting our ski. We had to wait all day for an e-mail giving us the go. By the end of the day unfortunately it never came. Instead, we took the snowcat to a crashed airplane, dug out the cockpit and wandered inside. We found dog kennels, fuel drums and food. The snow packed in on the outside of the windows was a magnificent blus crystal color. I still can't believe I'm here. :-)

December 8 - Jay:
  The team is still waiting for the plane. Unfortunately there was no plan today either. Everyone seems to be tired of waiting. However I'm enjoying the time here in Patriot Hills. There's a little library tent here, I found some Korean books which I was looking for. I read books all day long. It can be a boring moment, but I learn how to enjoy these moments (try to find what you can do, and enjoy the nature!). There are many beautiful little peaks here, I have a book in my hand. I know I'm a happy person.

December 9 - Naoki:
  Martyn has a bad cold. He was coughing a lot last night. I hope he will recover before we leave Patriot Hills. We are all worried about it. This morning we had the real last presentation. Although there was only an audience of five and ANI staff, that presentation impressed me very much. Every member told their personal feeling about this journey from the bottom of their heart. The blue sky is gone and huge clouds began to appear in the evening. This whiteness reminds me of the North Pole. Everything gets white around me, and I cannot distinguish the waves from the ice any more. The sun stopped heating up our tents, thus they got much colder: the fresh air urged me in my sleeping-bag faster than yesterday.

December 10 - Renaud:
  Paperwork and discussions seems to get to an end between ANI and Pole to Pole, and if the weather is with us, we should leave tomorrow. Tons to do in the day around here: rest and nap time in the tent protected by the surrounding Patriot Hills, then we had an incredible meal prepared by Rose, ANI's main cook, and enjoyed the huge white fields going away from the hills. Martyn invented a water-boiling speed competition and then we changed activity to destroy ourselves playing soccer against our neighbors - Chilean base. World lost 2 to 3. Adding to my fuel barrel blown by the wind a few weeks ago, and one third full that I brought back on my sled, I couldn't resist too much longer during the evening party with the Chileans, and went to bed quite early. Hard to tell the time anyway, the sun just keeps turning around without any rest!

December 11 - Dylan:
  Patriot Hills, Ellsworth Mountains, imagine a place of snow and ice, of beauty and harshness. Where the frozen bite of the wind is balanced by the warm company of your companions. When you step out of your tent you are greeted by a staggering, rugged and artistically unique range of mountains. As I step outside, it is necessary to ask permission from the ruling god of this land - the wind .... and how does one ask permission from the wind to move about on this last great frozen wild continent ? I ask with humbleness accepting and respecting a force greater and stronger than I, than human life and technology itself. This is Antarctica and I am humbled in impression and experience.

December 12 - Devlin:
  So here we sit, all looking at each other. We have been here for a week now and we are still waiting patiently. Now that the aircraft issues have been resolved, the weather is on its head. The wind is howling at 25 knots and we have white-out conditions. Simply walking is a challenge as you cannot see the terrain. One minute its flat and the next you fall over a snow drift. It was good however , as it gave us a chance to test how much wind we can fly our traction kites in. Dyl set up a kite and launch. He got pulled, running out of control by the kite. As he came past I dive tackled him and held on. We eventually came to a stop, lying on the snow and laughing like little kids. Suffice it to say that we can't fly in 25 knots!

December 13 - Mercedes:
  My cold feet woke me up again in the middle of the Antarctic bright night and after running in my sleeping bag to warm up, I fell to sleep again enjoying the soothing music of the wind hitting my tent. The day is still windy and with bad visibility, as we wait for better conditions. It is fun to realize how in just only a couple of hours the known landscape changes as the wind creates new hills of snow everywhere. This and the white-out make the walking difficult today. I am expectant and ready to start with the last leg of our trip. I appreciate being here in Patriot Hills where the people are amazing and are making this waiting much more pleasant and tolerable for us.

December 14 - Heidi:
  After some incredible winds yesterday (ranging from 25 to 90 Km/h) I awoke to silence. With the hope of a clear day we peaked outside our little haven of a tent. Unfortunately, visibility was still very low so we set in for another day of waiting. Today was different though, because we spent much of the day talking together about our eventual Pole to Pole book. It is exciting to have something new to think and dream about. We shared with each other our biggest challenges, funniest moments, stupidest thing, best project, most embarrassing moment, most connected with nature, etc. It was a beautiful sight to see us laughing and joking. After such a long trip and such a long wait here in Patriot Hills, we are still happy and excited, that's something to be grateful for.

And a special report from Sang-Soo, our Korean cameraman that learnt some English through the trip - once called Konglish, mixing Korean and English:

"When we leave here Patriot Hills ? Everyday so hard training (i.e. sleeping in konglish). Now my back is very sick: too much training. Hoo! When we leave her ? When we start journey? So terrible! Last night, so hot, because don't have pee bottle, four times to toilet, maybe 2:30, very cold with white-out, come back lost my tent ... I want to start now. Ah! about soccer: after boiling training, I change, I play second half-time: Chilean military vs world team. Chilean military soccer team very well. Before finish, maybe 10 minutes, score goal, corner and psichh, I'm so happy! And after with Renaud, goal ceremony. I'm so happy, good training. Now, just 15 days, if 30 days maybe one day film one day no; now 15 days every day film. Why we don't go, I want film now! Anyway, I'm so sad because 15 day after we "good-bye", I'm so sad, how to do that! Renaud, Dylan, Merce, my sister Heidi ... I'm so sad. I think never never don't meet, so difficult! Now, everyday, everyone, talk-talk for friendship. Thank you. This is my web site, now first time and last time."

December 15 - Jessica:
  Yet another day of waiting in Patriot Hills. This morning, like the previous 8 mornings, here I quietly layered on my clothing, slipped on my goggles and crawled outside my tent anxious to see a brighter sky, a glimpse of the sun - a shadow on the bright sun. Much to my dismay there seemed to be no change in weather. As I stumbled over the massive snow drifts towards the nearly invisible cook tent, 20 meters away. A couple hours later the power and majesty of the great Antarctic showed itself again as the clouds miraculously cleared and the sun shown brighter than ever in the royal blue sky. They told us to be ready just in case. This is the closest we've come to leaving, packed our sleeping-bags, our sleds, our food and just waited for the confirmation coming in the next satellite pictures. Needless to say, we were very excited and ready to go. Unfortunately we learned that as quickly as it clears it can come again as the satellite picture showed that weather where we were to be dropped off had clouded over low clouds, meaning landing is very dangerous. So here we are, at the end of day nine, in Antarctica, still in Patriot Hills, powerless to do anything except enjoy the brilliance of our surroundings and treasure every moment spent here.

December 16 - Jae:
  We are facing different kind of challenges nowadays. Waiting ... is it! It has been ten days waiting for the weather here in Patriot Hills. But still the weather is not getting perfect for flying. We first planned a 40 days for the Antarctic trip however now it's about 14 days left, and still not sure how long we have to wait more. So, to be patient is our challenge now. It's really sad to just lose our days sitting down and nothing to do. Well ..... however it is a beautiful place here. Maybe it's not too bad being on a beautiful place, relaxed, enjoying the life. I think to see the things in positive way, is always the key to be happy!

December 17 - Naoki:
  Why? Why does cloud come here? Why weather is so bad? My muscles are getting smaller everyday. But my expectations are getting bigger everyday. Today, Steve from ANI taught me how to use the GPS correctly. GPS is Global Positioning System, a small apparel that uses satellites to tell everywhere in the world its position. Now every expedition uses it, and even some new cars have it! I knew how to use it, but I didn't know the settings details. Steve said "1st sun, 2nd wind, and next is GPS!" I did agree that natural navigation is more important, and more rewarding too! It just sound like my Macronesian's star navigation master explaining to use the wonders of nature before the modern technological systems. These people help me to get my child cityhood to being closer to nature. We will leave tomorrow ... hopefully ....

December 18 - Renaud:
  No time left today. I started my day as the last twelve ones, being cool and relaxed. But at 11:30 in the middle of my nap, everything changed: we leave at 13:30, in 35 minutes when I am typing those words, quickkkkk! Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!

December 21 - Radio Report:
  Radio reports from the team indicate that travel over the last two days has been difficult. Geographic position on the evening of December 20 was 88.266S/87.833W at 2315. They managed to travel 7 nautical miles (13km) in difficult conditions with sastrugi (rigid snow ridges) up to 30" high. Temperatures hover around -13 degrees Celsius; -25 windchill. Four people have minor frost-nip: Sang-Soo, Dylan, Mercedes and Heidi. Their position the previous evening, December 19, was 88.150S/88.350W.

December 22- Radio Report:
  The snow surface improved as the Sastrugi (rigid snow ridges formed by the wind) diminished in size, so the difficulty in skiing eased up a bit for for the team yesterday. Position reports 88.423S/87.627W at 2315, 21 December. Distance traveled 17.4km yesterday. All members of team are doing well. The weather is clear.

December 23 - Radio Report:
  Position: 88 deg 44 min South 087 deg 56 min West.
Distance travelled today: 17 kilometers
Comments:Jessica - Good travelling today. Good flat covering. Sastrugi 6-8 inches high, low soft and far apart. -10 deg C. Beautiful day, great travel. Dylan very sick - very tired and rest of team helped him.
Position of the team on 22 December at 23:15 was 88.573S/88.224W. Weather quite poor, whiteout, but surface fair. Frost-nip all under control. Traveled 16.7km yesterday. All team members doing well.