|
|
 |
| Lost in the storm |
Juanma Viu and Ignacio Oficialdegui on the Kitesled.
|
|
| 11-01-2006 |
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 the storm. We wanted to arrive to the meeting point with the helicopter –at 70º South, 80º East-, and we were actually almost falling asleep. We were carrying several bags wrapped in and, we don’t know how, the cloth got broken and we lost a lot of things: the Argos beacon –which says where they are-, one satellite telephone, the solar plates, some food and even the saucepan we use to melt the snow”.
The situation was difficult: the expeditioners had everything they need to survive, but they had just an Iridium telephone to communicate with the exterior and its batteries. They had to take a quick decision: it was necessary to recover all the equipment and tell their contact out there their position as soon as possible. Once it was done, they started a light expedition on foot to recover everything lost. The storm, the lack of visibility and the strong winds didn’t help at all to accomplish their purpose, but they had to go ahead. Meanwhile, they could solve the most urgent problem, the lack of water, melting the snow on the shovel they usually use to clear up the way into the tent, the kite or the sled.
Luckily, there was no need to go much further as they thought at first: after 9 kilometers walking they found everything they had lost, “absolutely everything”, as Ramón Larramendi told us. The explorers were as happy as exhausted, after “24 hours without eating or sleeping”. So first of all, after such a tough day, they decided to have a few more than deserved resting hours before keeping on their way.
|
|
|
 |
|
| 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 |
|
 |
|
| 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...
|
|
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 |
|
|
|
|
|
