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| Out of the no-wind zone |
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| 08-01-2006 |
72º 4' South, 86º 44' East. 280 kilometers first day. 62 the second. 111 the third. Those are the distances covered by our fellows the past 5th, 6th and 7th of January. After two days waiting in the same place for a little bit of wind, a light breeze got to lift the kite and break the bad patch they were going through.
As Ramón Larramendi told us: “We did several attempts, just like a kind of trying, but it didn’t look easy at all. Suddenly, the kite went up, thanks to a breeze that took us 280 kilometers further in 19 hours of navigation. We had to stop later, there wasn’t a breath of air, but we were already completely out of this no-wind zone in which we were trapped.
Next day, the 6th of January, too much wind helped them to cover a good distance, but not as good as the one they had done on the 5th: 62 kilometers covered in a stormy day, with much more wind and effort than the day before. This time, as Larramendi said, “the wind was much stronger, around 40-45 kilometers per hour. We had to change the kite several times –a task that take them between an hour and an hour and a half- and go with lateral pull, which costs a lot more. At the end we were using the smaller kite, the 12 sqm. one.
For the first time in all the expedition “it was so cloudy that you neither could tell where the sky started nor the ice ended. Once the kite even touched the ground because there was no way to know where it was at”.
The Three Wise Men brought another good navigation day for the next day: 111 kilometers in a tough terrain that caused new damages to the sled. Everything was already repaired and it doesn’t look like anything could stop them.
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| 13-01-2006
The fastest Antarctic traverse ever done |
| “We made it, it is fabulous. I am on the deck of the Russian vessel, we just landed and I am surrounded of a sea full of icebergs”. Those were the first words we could hear from Ramón Larramendi when they just arrived to the Akademik Federov...
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| 11-01-2006
Lost in the storm |
| 70º 38’ South, 81º 57’ East. Ramón, Juanma and Ignacio could cover 55 kilometers the 8th of January and 80 kilometers the 9th. Last day ended with a fright:
“We had an exhausting day, after twelve hours navigation in the middle of th...
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| 09-01-2006
Much closer to the meeting point |
| 102 kilometers in a difficult day because of the strong wind. As the explorers said, it was “the strongest wind in all the expedition, with a speed of more than 50 kilometers per hour”. It is a tough task to drive the Kitesled in a terrain f...
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| 04-01-2006
We keep on going -but where is the wind? |
| 74º 38' South, 97º 38' East. Neither the low temperatures nor the difficult terrain could stop the expeditioners. But now the wind or, better said, the lack of it, is making things more difficult these days.
As Ramón Larramendi told us: “1st...
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| 03-01-2006
Happy New Year from the Antarctic |
| 75º 38’ South, 100º 7’ East. Our three friends Ramón Larramendi, Juanma Viu and Ignacio Oficialdegui had a really especial New Year’s Eve celebration : alone in their tent in the middle of the Antarctic plateau, with lower temperatur...
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| 30-12-2005
Almost 120 kilometers in one day and two days with no wind |
| 76º 10’ South, 99º 48’ East. 28th was a good day with a progress of 119 kilometers . Afterwards, the guys had to take it a little bit easier and have two days rest because of the lack of wind.
The point is, as Larramendi told us, that <...
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| 28-12-2005
191 kilometers in one day |
| 76º 58’ South, 102º 36’ East. The Transantarctic team is going again and heading for the next landmark: the Russian base of Mirny. The first stage after the time in Vostok couldn’t be better: 191 kilometers in twelve hours of navigation
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| 27-12-2005
A cold Christmas Eve in Vostok |
| Were you wondering about how the explorers passed their Christmas Eve? Ramón Larramendi explained it as follows:
“Vostok is one of the strangest places in the world: ten people live buried under the snow in the middle of the Antarctic
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| 22-12-2005
Arrival at the Russian base of Vostok |
| 78º 28’ South, 106º 49’ East. Yesterday at 12:00 GMT Ramón Larramendi, Juanma Viu and Ignacio Oficialdegui arrived to the Russian base Vostok after 15 hours of navigation across the Inaccessibility Zone.
The journey passed without more i...
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| 20-12-2005
Fast as a rocket |
| 79º 36’ North 102º 18’ East. “We go as fast as a rocket”, is the first thing Ramón Larramendi said when he contacted us to do the report of the last journey. The team had another great day and they could make a good 181 kilometers run in 12 hour...
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