Friday, April 16, 2010

From the North Pole...!

Indinda and I at the end of the journey...The North Pole!



I know the news is out...We made it! 9h05 EST, 14 April 2010! (Sorry, PDA started playing up after my swim, and also a shortage of sleep, has delayed this communication, but hopefully not its significance!)

Somehow, the PDA is working again, and I write this as I sit on the Russian jet that took off from the ice at the North Pole (Barneo station) to take us back to the real world of Longyerbyen, Svalbard. Gee, what an amazing birthday... Due to the bad weather the helicopter couldn't come out to pick us up yesterday, so we camped out at 'The Pole' and waited till 3pm for the pickup. (Drifting 8 miles from the Pole as we waited!) As the helicopter came into view, on a perfect arctic day, it was very emotional packing up the tent for the last time. Then for the most amazing surprise birthday present... Ruth stepped out of the big helicopter and I was just blown away...!! With me doing the expedition and her adventurous personality, she had decided to join a 6-10 day, 2 person 'Last degree' expedition and then meet me at The Pole. With our, much earlier than planned, arrival, I had accepted we would miss each other, and I would wait in Svalbard till around 22 April, when she finished, but here she was at the Pole on my birthday... The stuff dreams are made of...! I have to thank Victor, in charge of the Russian Barneo operation for his wonderful birthday present in 'bringing her to me'. Our time together was short but packed with emotions, as Ruth's expedition flew out to 89 degrees an hour after our helicopter touched down at Barneo'! I'll see her again in 7-10 days!



The Team in front of the Russian helicopter that came to pick us up at The Pole...emotional stuff!

Thank you ALL for the amazing support and birthday wishes, it's been truly overwhelming, and I'll deal with each personally over the next week.

The last two days of the expedition were REAL difficult, and the last session of 9 miles was as per a classic Polar adventure / expedition drama... 45 knot blizzard, whiteout and 4 crazy 'explorers' barely visible fighting the conditions to reach the highly prized, 'nowhere'... nobody to meet you, no obvious landmark, no special compass, clock behaviour etc, 'Just' knowing it's the top of the world and whichever way you walk you go south! I thought I might even get dizzy, because for the 1st time in my 52 years and 364 days of life I was stationary and not spinning around the world! But, hey it felt just the same...! (Many times in the lead up to my decision to do this expedition I had thought through this, but now it was actual reality, and the thinking turned to the great explorers who were driven to 'find out' what was there. Having Richard right in front of me also made me think of the enormity of what him and Mikhail did... I couldn't imagine, turning around soon, and marching all the way back to Canada, and unsupported!

Interestingly, in the last day when things were real tough, I started questioning why I was needing to get to this 'nowhere' and concluded I didn't 'anymore', I had experienced more than I could have ever imagined, on the 41 days, that the relevance of the journey made the specific end point fade into insignificance, other than its delivery of the relief of the unavoidable and necessary suffering involved. As we reached the end point, emotions hit break point and we each turned to each other one by one and shook hands, exchanged individually intimate 'one liners' of our own relevance and appreciation of the team effort to 'get us here'. The specialness of Richard leadership and the Tessum's, Father / Son achievement, was something special to witness... Tears flowed in a way that's hard to describe.



One tired, but happy birthday boy! Inside our tent on 15th April 2010, waiting to be picked up by helicopter...Mission accomplished!

Going back to the last two days:

I know you know I had a REAL swim, as I asked Ruth to post something on the Blog, but because of it's significance on my last day's experience I'd like to share it with you...

Firstly, the last day, wasn't really 'a day' it was a tough 36 hours of hullucination and dealing with excitement, disappointment, patience, suffering, physical discomfort, and an 'un-manageable' mind, then dealing with the reality and significant conflicts of the Pole, I talk about above...!

My last Post was from the morning before these 36 hours and we had 19 miles to go... so from that point...:

A peek out the tent revealed whiteout conditions and a westerly, but slightly stronger wind still blowing… hmm, a sombre atmosphere over breakfast as we all dealt with the harsh realities of the marches ahead. Well, within 2 hours we were presented with a lead that wasn't open water, but newly frozen, and marginal thin ice. (For us snowshoe-ers vs. skiers) Richard tested a crossing on ski's and suggested David and I take our snow shoes off and rather walk on 'just boots', to avoid the snow shoe stressing the thin ice. I was excited by this, and while the skiers changed layers, I pushed Richard to let David and I go ahead and cross. Hmmm, those of you that know me well, will say "typical"! So excitedly I left, leading David and cautiously testing the ice. About 90% across with absolutely no warning, a 'next step', broke the thin ice, and I went down with my backpack on, and sled attached, in the water up to my navel. Hmm... icy cold water, slowly penetrating my warm and absorbent fleece wear! As I tried to get out the ice edge broke more, creating a sizeable pool and the icy water penetrated further... eventually backtracking led me to thicker ice creating a strong ledge which helped me 'help myself' out. I felt disappointed with myself that I had abused Richard's trust in me, and now was for the 1st time on the expedition, at a critical 'record, or no record’ time too. At the same time, I had this 'Ulysses' factor' excitement that said I was truly experiencing the Arctic! From previous discussions with Richard I knew I must roll in snow, as deep as possible, as it soaks up the water, so I did this, and then when he reached me he assisted by forcing fresh snow into my boots to absorb the water...!

Determined to minimize team delay, I urged the expedition on so I could start warming up, and hopefully avoid a total 'bottom half' freeze up. I could feel my boots were 'slushily’, warm, and twice the weight they were, and my polar fleece pants also weighed a lot more… all not good, and a bit scary... new territory! A stop to add another warm top proved critical. Over the next two hours marching after a difficult physical and mental struggle I knew I had gone to the brink of the frostbite line, but won!

A half hour later, I removed the layer that had saved me and was back too feeling like a 'normal' march, team member. Hmm, until felt short of my normal speed capacity, and realized I was short on calories, as the swim and cold had drained me. Few chocolate bars, and I felt 100% to the point where I took some fuel load from the slowest team member's sled to try and optimize our overall speed. This went amazingly well, and the team was now at full potential towards the goal, The Pole! At breaks or when we stopped, I did realize my boots were a fragile balance between being 'slushily' warm, and a dangerous encased ice prison,... I needed to keep moving, but what would happen for the relatively inactive hour at the end of the marching day, when we build our home? Meantime, the wind had strengthened, and we were back in full 'whiteout', with increasing -ve ice drift, as we edge northwards. Fatigue and disillusionment with the fact that the 19 miles would take us a lot longer than 'we' had wished, we conclude that the Pole would not be possible without us having a rest. Rest means, setting up and taking down camp, and all that goes with that... A minimum of 5 hours, including only 2 for sleep, with 0.5 knot backward ice drift as we rest! This is part of the very intriguing game of an arctic expedition like ours, it's a continuous struggle to 'beat the arctic’, and that game has drawn Richard back, and I can see what a master at it, he is. So a decision was made to rest at '9 miles to go', for two hours sleep, and then set off for that 'final' set of marches! With this interim goal the team motivation was high, and the 'nine miles to go' milestone came up at about 18h30 (EST) on the 13th. The wind was up to at least 40 knots, and the arctic had this 'dry ice' look with the blown surface snow looking subliming carbon dioxide, in the now dull sunlight.

As predicted, tent building provided a challenge to my soaked boots, and on entering the tent and removing my boots / socks, my frozen frost bitten toes were discovered! I was severely disappointed with myself, that I had largely managed the cold up to the last day, and now a silly mistake had delivered this blow. This news and the wet condition of all my gear changed the focus of the rest stop, to one where it was almost all about getting me back into condition to be able to complete the last 9 miles (plus drift as we camped). My team mates were amazing, David 'lending' me his warm armpits to thaw my frost bitten toes (the right foot big toe was the worst) As thawing started and blood circulation returned, the pain was horrendous, but no time for crying now! Richard helped pull my boots apart, so they could be dried above the stoves. This was a huge job as the 3 layers were completely frozen as one. Those that know me well will know I find it difficult to accept help, and this 'injured, needy, patient' position I was in was something I hate! The amazing friendship and unselfish help I received from my team mates was a humbling experience, and a huge human relationship, 'teaching moment' for me. Given his leadership role and draining whiteout, navigation activity on the marches Richard was particularly tired and needing off a nap, but instead helped me. Eventually my 3 team mates did manage a catnap, as I continued to de-ice and dry my gear.

At around 21h30 (EST) we were all packed up and back marching for our final assault on The Pole. Well the next 12 hours are close to..., if not THE hardest 12 hours I have EVER had to manage in my life! Weather conditions were shocking, the worst to date, true blizzard, and south drift peaked at 0.5 knots, discounting our forward efforts, my frostbitten toes were paining, and for some strange reason relating to their icing up, my trusted boots now created huge heal blisters from a new chafe. At one of the march breaks I even stripped down to bare feet to add vaseline at -40 deg C... hmm, not fun! Eventually, I succumbed to painkillers, the 1st time on the trip for me! Through all this, I have to admire Richard's leadership and navigation ability, as mile by painful mile we reeled in the Pole.

Almost 12 hours of marching brought The Pole, and the end of a TRULY amazing journey. The rest is history, but in the next week or so, I'll probably put out one last 'Reflections' Post!



Saying goodbye to The Pole, the Arctic and Barneo...about to climb into the Russian jet and leave the ice for Longyearbyen, Svalbard.

I am confident that I will have a full recovery from the frosbite, but a visit to the doctor in Svalbard will hopefully confirm that! At the moment it's very swollen and painful, but at least not black!

Now for indulging in the normal comforts and re-entering 'normal life'...

Thanks again, for all your support, I enjoyed having you along!




The South African flag at the Pole (Thanks Martin and Jean)

11 comments:

  1. Hey Howard:

    I suspect you will be reliving and continuing to learn about yourself and life as a function of this incredible experience for quite some time. Hope the Jet was able to land that the ash from the volcano doesn't interfere with your getting back and getting your feet attended to. We will be keeping you and Ruth in thoughts and prayers in the days ahead.

    Bob, Ros, and Boys

    ReplyDelete
  2. A Tear in my eye ,you made it Boy,and thats all that matters!!UM!? So whats next on the agenda ???

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a wonderful experience. I envy you! Congratulations.

    ReplyDelete
  4. what an amazing journey & you are an excellent story teller.Congratulations!

    Debbie Jones

    ReplyDelete
  5. The picture of you at the end says it all. That picture takes all of your comments about sacrifice, about special feelings, about enduring, to a much deeper level and gives us a much better sense of the struggle and the rewards.

    Bob

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Howard
    You did it boy! Very proud of you!Must say that if we had bumped into each other I wouldn't have recognised you, your face tells a story! Have loved hearing your story and we have lots of our friends marvelling at your journey. Well done to Ruth for her support. Thanks for taking our flag for all South Africans even if it is upside down. HaHa. lots of love jean martin and girls

    ReplyDelete
  7. Amazing Howard! Well done. Your photo definitely relays the consequences of your your determination and fortitude. Wishing you better toes.

    Jonathan.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I have been following this without commenting. I am in awe and almost speechless at this mindblowing experience!!!
    Makes the African bush seem tame now.
    Wishing all kinds of congratulations and celebrations

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hmmm, I finally feel strong enough to get back to the PC and write something to you fantastic supporters....! Thank you for all the wonderful wishes and comments, being able to read them in warm comfort, with my feet up, and my mind in reflection mode is very special......

    It's very quiet here in Longyearbyen, the volcano fiasco has devastated the tourist inflow, at least providing a wonderful environment for resting and getting the body back to normal....still not sure when it will feel totally normal again, but since yesterday I feel I have turned the corner with my feet. Thanks again, and glad to have ben able to share this amazing experience with all of you....Howard

    ReplyDelete
  10. Howard! I am totally amazed!! What an adventure!! Good on you and your team mates. We are truly happy for all of you. It’s all so amazing! Give David and the others a big hello from us. Hope we meet again. We will all have a lot to talk about, next time you are in Yellowknife..Congratulations and God Bless

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hi Howard,
    Great honor & privilege to have listened to you at Glenwood High School yesterday.Well done great inspiration

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.