Not the way I prefer to spend Xmas morning, waking up on the plane, drooling, with Mikes head on my shoulder, but at least we are back in the states. We switched airlines in Atlanta in order to avoid a connection and to save time. Mike came through with a new flight, however our luggage will be going on our origional flight through Cincinatti, oh joy.... Hope our Antartic snow doesn't melt (we put some in a thermos).
Just talked to Zac and Sophia, Zac was thrilled that he didn't get coal... Sophia had no such fear.
Should be in KC by noon.... Yippe
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Monday, December 24, 2007
Time on my hands
Posting a few images while waiting for plane.
Took my camera on race, got a lot of pictures. Here is an example of the whiteout, Adriano was in front of me, he was the only thing I could see. Trail was virtually invisible.
Me and Adriano (from Brazil) approaching finish line. I was pretty spent at this point.
Left to right - Irish Mark, Bernando, James, Mike and me. We were up all night again supporting the 100k runners, they were in bad shape at this point.
Took a self timed picture when we reached the top of hill (mini mountain). The amount of snow here cannot be put into words. The vast amounts of snow do drift, but against mountains. It is really odd to see snowdrifts as high as mountainss. Here we are standing on a drift, turned to ice, and is over a thousand feet deep. Took several hours to climb this (I am on right). Brutally cold and windy up there. There were huge blue ice fields we had to cross. They were incredible, they would have huge waves of ice hundreds of feet high and thousands of feet deep. Was like a frozen ocean.
Self photo. Looking grizzly now. The camp can be seen way off in the distance (dots on the field of white. The air is so clear you can see further than I have ever experienced. You can also see parts of the ice runway that was being cleared. The plane cannot use brakes on the ice so it has to be long, and free of drifts, 36-72 hours are required to clear it depending on wind etc.
You can also see some of the undulating waves of ice. These are created be the high winds sweeping off the mountains. The ice adds layers every year. It is difficult to put these to scale, but take my word for it, they are intimidating to see, really makes me realize just how puny we are.
Really wish I had skis or a sled when I was up here, could have taken a ride down and saved an hour of walking.
Sat on top for a while and pondered life.... result, life is good.
Took my camera on race, got a lot of pictures. Here is an example of the whiteout, Adriano was in front of me, he was the only thing I could see. Trail was virtually invisible.
Me and Adriano (from Brazil) approaching finish line. I was pretty spent at this point.
Left to right - Irish Mark, Bernando, James, Mike and me. We were up all night again supporting the 100k runners, they were in bad shape at this point.
Took a self timed picture when we reached the top of hill (mini mountain). The amount of snow here cannot be put into words. The vast amounts of snow do drift, but against mountains. It is really odd to see snowdrifts as high as mountainss. Here we are standing on a drift, turned to ice, and is over a thousand feet deep. Took several hours to climb this (I am on right). Brutally cold and windy up there. There were huge blue ice fields we had to cross. They were incredible, they would have huge waves of ice hundreds of feet high and thousands of feet deep. Was like a frozen ocean.
Self photo. Looking grizzly now. The camp can be seen way off in the distance (dots on the field of white. The air is so clear you can see further than I have ever experienced. You can also see parts of the ice runway that was being cleared. The plane cannot use brakes on the ice so it has to be long, and free of drifts, 36-72 hours are required to clear it depending on wind etc.
You can also see some of the undulating waves of ice. These are created be the high winds sweeping off the mountains. The ice adds layers every year. It is difficult to put these to scale, but take my word for it, they are intimidating to see, really makes me realize just how puny we are.
Really wish I had skis or a sled when I was up here, could have taken a ride down and saved an hour of walking.
Sat on top for a while and pondered life.... result, life is good.
Flight Update
Looks like we found a quicker, direct flight home, will be able to skip the connection in Cincinatti, whew, won't save a lot of time, but every minute matters. Gonna keep our existing flight in case we are delayed in customs and miss connection.
Satellite phone giving us problems so will try and update this with futher details.
Got room across street from airport, resting here.
Satellite phone giving us problems so will try and update this with futher details.
Got room across street from airport, resting here.
Journey Home
Have many stories and images yet to share. We have successfully left the ice, went back to our purgatory of Puenta Arenas for yet another night (saw my first darkness in a week, an odd thing darkness).
We are now sitting in Santiago waiting for our late night flight. Both of us are mentally beat with all the frantic travel plans, all our efforts will not accomplish our goal however, as we will both miss Xmas morning with our families (a crushing defeat).
We had to leave quickly this morning and could not wish a proper farewell to our new friends, Irish Mark (whom owes me pesos from cards), English James (whom also owes me a lot of pesos), Raj (who was smart and did not play cards), Neil - from the UK, and most of all William, whom set the world record in his wheelchair and who has raised a lot of money for the same cause I am doing this for. I can only hope we get a chance in Santiago to say our goodbyes.
On the flight in from Patriot Hills, I was able to look out the front windows of the Aircraft and see the ice pack stretch on for miles, it was incredible and inspiring, I can´t wait to share the images I captured.
I will do my best to post many of the images of the amazing continent of Antartica as well as catch up on many of the stories of the trip. It is good to be back, it will be better to hug my kids again.
I am tired now, so I will find a bench to rest my head, will post more later.
We are now sitting in Santiago waiting for our late night flight. Both of us are mentally beat with all the frantic travel plans, all our efforts will not accomplish our goal however, as we will both miss Xmas morning with our families (a crushing defeat).
We had to leave quickly this morning and could not wish a proper farewell to our new friends, Irish Mark (whom owes me pesos from cards), English James (whom also owes me a lot of pesos), Raj (who was smart and did not play cards), Neil - from the UK, and most of all William, whom set the world record in his wheelchair and who has raised a lot of money for the same cause I am doing this for. I can only hope we get a chance in Santiago to say our goodbyes.
On the flight in from Patriot Hills, I was able to look out the front windows of the Aircraft and see the ice pack stretch on for miles, it was incredible and inspiring, I can´t wait to share the images I captured.
I will do my best to post many of the images of the amazing continent of Antartica as well as catch up on many of the stories of the trip. It is good to be back, it will be better to hug my kids again.
I am tired now, so I will find a bench to rest my head, will post more later.
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Leaving Antarctica
We are on our journey back home. We arrived in Punta Arena at 8pm KC time. Not able to make connecting flight to Santiago. So, we will finally have a needed shower (after 5 days) and sleep in a bed. Tomorrow, we will travel to Santiago then home!!
We should arive in KC on Christamas Day.
Mark
We should arive in KC on Christamas Day.
Mark
Friday, December 21, 2007
Marathon - Mark details on his run
Finished run today. Very, very, very tough. The packed
snow trail was very difficult to follow due to whiteout
conditions, fear of getting lost was a very real
possibility. Now, before I go on,I must explain the
weather. We had moderate winds, a light snow,
and low cloud cover. This means that everything, I
mean everything was white. The sky the ground, the sides,
everything was white. The sun, while out (as it is 24
hours a day here) cast no shadows and only served to
cast a gloomy white glow to everything. It was like
walking in clouds with no sense of up or down
(more of this later).
My words can not do justice to fully paint an accurate
image of a whiteout, but I must at least try.
Running (with any speed)was possible for short stretches
only as every attempt to move quickly caused you to loose
the trail. It was odd actually, the whiteout felt
smothering, yet occasionally you could see another
runner, miles in front,or behind. The visibility wasn’t
altered as you could see any colors at a great distance,
it was just that everything was white. I spent most of
the race looking at my feet in order to keep on the packed
snow trail.
The orange flags marking the trail appeared to glow as the
only visible color for miles. It would appear as if they
had an aura surrounding them, as if your eyes were
thirsting for any color at all. If you would turn around,
you would lose all sense of up or down and feel as if you
were falling, was really odd.
It was one of the greatest experiences of my life!!
Stayed awake all night again waiting for the 100k runners
to return, it was the right thing to do. I am glad I was
not able to do the 100k (we could only do one, not both
due to scheduling).
Walked a few miles out onto the snow plain when the weather
cleared after midnight with Irish Mark and experienced a
gorgeous midnight sun on a sea of unending snow. I under-
stand now why many arctic explorers would return here over
and over again. Got some great pictures that I will
post soon.
Caught up with Adriano, from Brazil during run and ran much
of the race with him. We crossed the finish line together.
Mike on the other hand, assisted our 71 year old competitor
early in the race for several miles (Anry from France).
Anry could not see very well because of conditions and had
to drop out. This put Mike way behind the field, and thus
ran most of the race alone. He lost the trail several
times wandering in waist deep snow with visions of
spending Christmas for the next thousand years as a
statue of frozen flesh. A permanent reminder to all of
mankind of his failure to complete the marathon and a
startling warning to runners of future generations of
the dangers of wandering off trail. Mike finished the
race and is OK. He is now sleeping after using his
affective sleep aid of trying to prepare for trial.
Had to express some of this so I apologize for the lack of
logistical details (hopefully Mike will cover those).
Weather bad now, waiting for it to clear so we can leave.
Plane will not be in today, and are hopeful for a better
forecast tomorrow.
Oh, remind me to get the book ‘Beyond the Poles’ when I get back.
As someone on Scotts fateful expedition said; “gonna take
a walk now, will be a while”.
Mark
snow trail was very difficult to follow due to whiteout
conditions, fear of getting lost was a very real
possibility. Now, before I go on,I must explain the
weather. We had moderate winds, a light snow,
and low cloud cover. This means that everything, I
mean everything was white. The sky the ground, the sides,
everything was white. The sun, while out (as it is 24
hours a day here) cast no shadows and only served to
cast a gloomy white glow to everything. It was like
walking in clouds with no sense of up or down
(more of this later).
My words can not do justice to fully paint an accurate
image of a whiteout, but I must at least try.
Running (with any speed)was possible for short stretches
only as every attempt to move quickly caused you to loose
the trail. It was odd actually, the whiteout felt
smothering, yet occasionally you could see another
runner, miles in front,or behind. The visibility wasn’t
altered as you could see any colors at a great distance,
it was just that everything was white. I spent most of
the race looking at my feet in order to keep on the packed
snow trail.
The orange flags marking the trail appeared to glow as the
only visible color for miles. It would appear as if they
had an aura surrounding them, as if your eyes were
thirsting for any color at all. If you would turn around,
you would lose all sense of up or down and feel as if you
were falling, was really odd.
It was one of the greatest experiences of my life!!
Stayed awake all night again waiting for the 100k runners
to return, it was the right thing to do. I am glad I was
not able to do the 100k (we could only do one, not both
due to scheduling).
Walked a few miles out onto the snow plain when the weather
cleared after midnight with Irish Mark and experienced a
gorgeous midnight sun on a sea of unending snow. I under-
stand now why many arctic explorers would return here over
and over again. Got some great pictures that I will
post soon.
Caught up with Adriano, from Brazil during run and ran much
of the race with him. We crossed the finish line together.
Mike on the other hand, assisted our 71 year old competitor
early in the race for several miles (Anry from France).
Anry could not see very well because of conditions and had
to drop out. This put Mike way behind the field, and thus
ran most of the race alone. He lost the trail several
times wandering in waist deep snow with visions of
spending Christmas for the next thousand years as a
statue of frozen flesh. A permanent reminder to all of
mankind of his failure to complete the marathon and a
startling warning to runners of future generations of
the dangers of wandering off trail. Mike finished the
race and is OK. He is now sleeping after using his
affective sleep aid of trying to prepare for trial.
Had to express some of this so I apologize for the lack of
logistical details (hopefully Mike will cover those).
Weather bad now, waiting for it to clear so we can leave.
Plane will not be in today, and are hopeful for a better
forecast tomorrow.
Oh, remind me to get the book ‘Beyond the Poles’ when I get back.
As someone on Scotts fateful expedition said; “gonna take
a walk now, will be a while”.
Mark
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Living in Antarctica
Here is a picture of out tent. It is quite comfortable. Of course, I have made my area very efficient and organized. And Mike, well he has been neat.
It is about 50-58 degrees in the tent. COLD!! I have to sleep with an eye mask. It is bright daylight 24/7. We spend very limited time in the tent. I have been either at the main camp tent or out hiking.
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