|
|
 |
| Much closer to the meeting point |
The tough terrain damaged the crosspieces of the sled.
|
|
| 09-01-2006 |
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 full of sastrugis and with a gale that likes to crash it against any irregularity. So the sled is starting to notice it: some crosspieces got damaged and again the expeditioners had to repair them on the plateau, with temperatures of around -30ºC.
The end of the journey is starting to be close, and the three men know it. Less than 500 kilometers separate them from the point where the expedition will finish, in a place near the coast and the Russian base of Progress. Once they arrive there, a helicopter will pick them up and take them to the Akademik Fedorov, the ship that will take them back to the civilization. The Akademik Fedorov is an oceanographic and research vessel that also provides the Russian bases on their way.
It was first planned that this ship was going to pick them up at a point close to Mirny, but its route was finally moved forward and the meeting point will be near Progress. Two helicopters with a capacity of up to twenty people go with the vessel. One of them will bring the explorers to the boat if everything goes as planned. The journey, said Ramón Larramendi “may finish in two days”. |
|
|
 |
|
| 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...
|
More |
|
 |
|
| 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...
|
|
More |
|
| |
| 08-01-2006
Out of the no-wind zone |
| 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 bree...
|
|
More |
|
 |
|
| 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...
|
|
More |
|
 |
|
| 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...
|
|
More |
|
 |
|
| 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 <...
|
|
More |
|
 |
|
| 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
|
|
More |
|
 |
|
| 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
|
|
More |
|
 |
|
| 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...
|
|
More |
|
 |
|
| 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...
|
|
More |
|
|
|
|
|
