Expedition to the Pole

Sunday 17 February 2008
-13 deg C
Wind speed about 8 knt

Here we are - Laurel and Hardy about to set off on our intrepid expedition walking around the Halley site, pretending we are going to the South Pole. We packed our sledges with eight pieces of Halley VI prime steel, which with supplies of chocolate and a little water, weighed in at around 140+ kg. We started at 10.30am and completed the first 5km lap by 12 noon.

Meanwhile, Simon Coggins (BAS scientist) was tearing up the track on a kite. I think he did about 14 or 15 laps that day. That's smart thinking - you wouldn't catch the ones with brains pulling heavy sledge loads on foot. Come to think of it, Andy and I were the only ones man-hauling that day. Other means of getting around included skiing, walking and running. The closest thing to what we were doing was the Morrison team pulling the happy sledge around. (They were running the opposite way round with refreshments for everyone - I was given a piece of short bread from Pete Willmott - a Kodak moment in itself!) That proves it really - the brains on the base were not being so stupid as to do hauling.

It soon became apparent that there has to be something better than man hauling to get to the South Pole. There is definately something insane about it. A lot of time and thought is put into making it easier: adjusting the harness so it is over the hips and not the back, rationalising supplies to reduce weight, reducing friction on the sledge, wearing the right clothes etc. But the fact remains it is still man hauling and the real thought should be given to eliminating the exercise altogether. Mad dogs and Englishmen!


The first lap, 5km around a groomed snow road was gruelling! For the second lap we each took out two steels to lighten the sledge to around 110kg. (I tried to put mine in Andy's sledge but he was watching). At first that was easier, but it soon became as difficult as the first lap and took the same time. It is incredible to think that people can push themselves to average 22km per day for months on end with more weight than this. Brian Newham said 'it's all in the head' - and he's right.

We called it a day to hauling after the second lap. By then it was 2pm. I was delighted I'd managed to do 10km with the loads that we had, and I think Andy felt a real sense of achievement too - between all the swearing. It did strike me in the last kilometre, that although man hauling must be one of the most insane activities, it was not nearly as stupid as pulling Faber Maunsell's steelwork around like a set of mortal chains.

I really wanted to get a sense of a day's travel to the pole and did another two laps walking which was great - but still hard. Andy did another skiing. I went to bed at 8:30 and when Andy came back to the pit room I was already snoring. (I do try to remedy this but can't really feel too guilty - because he farts in the office).

The end!