/journal/ Dispatches from Ben Saunders, as he attempts to set a new world speed record from Ward Hunt Island to the Geographic North Pole. en ben@bensaunders.com Copyright 2008 2008-04-07T07:01:00+00:00 /journal/entry/postscript/ /journal/entry/postscript/#When:07:01:00Z In my final few hours in the tent, waiting for the helicopter and staring into the abyss of self-pity, I had a wonderfully apt text message on my satphone from a dear friend, Oli Barrett. “Stories about journeys”, he wrote, “are always better than ones about arrivals.” So this, then, is a story about a journey but not an arrival. At least not where I expected to end up, anway. Journal 2008-04-07T07:01:00+00:00 /journal/entry/a-quick-update/ /journal/entry/a-quick-update/#When:01:52:00Z ...to let you all know that I’m ok, and feeling far more upbeat than I was 24 hours ago. I’m now back at the South Camp Inn in Resolute Bay, with coffee on tap and chocolate brownies in the fridge. It seems incredible that I was alone in my tent yesterday morning. Journal 2008-04-06T01:52:00+00:00 /journal/entry/the-fortress-02-04-2008-18-38-00/ /journal/entry/the-fortress-02-04-2008-18-38-00/#When:03:38:00Z The first hour of today went brilliantly. Fairly decent ice, bit of a nippy headwind, but nothing that was going to cause me any problems. Then I spotted it, shimmering on the horizon, just before I stopped for my first tea break. The mother of all pressure ridges. Journal 2008-04-03T03:38:00+00:00 /journal/entry/eyes-on-the-prize-01-04-2008-18-13-56/ /journal/entry/eyes-on-the-prize-01-04-2008-18-13-56/#When:03:13:56Z The wind did a complete one-eighty during the night, so it was the lower set of cheeks that got the full benefit of the windchill today, but it made navigating much easier. And the ice, dare I say, is looking a bit better up here near 84 degrees. Journal 2008-04-02T03:13:56+00:00 /journal/entry/windchill-31-03-2008-18-30-39/ /journal/entry/windchill-31-03-2008-18-30-39/#When:03:30:39Z The ice was a bit better (i.e. flatter) today, but in keeping with the spirit of things round here, the Arctic gave me a vicious headwind to contend with instead. Journal 2008-04-01T03:30:39+00:00 /journal/entry/off-the-scale-30-03-2008-18-06-03/ /journal/entry/off-the-scale-30-03-2008-18-06-03/#When:03:06:03Z By far the hardest day yet of this expedition, which I suspect makes it the hardest day of my life to date. It’s also the last time I jinx things by saying I’m going to knock out ten miles… Journal 2008-03-31T03:06:03+00:00 /journal/entry/one-of-those-days-29-03-2008-18-29-57/ /journal/entry/one-of-those-days-29-03-2008-18-29-57/#When:03:29:57Z I started out in a very chipper mood this morning, and cranked out a fair old distance in my first 90 minutes. Slumped in my harness, wrists dangling from ski poles, I turned and looked back, revelling in my sledge-hauling prowess. Something was missing, something usually strapped to the top of my sledge. My shotgun! Argh! Journal 2008-03-30T03:29:57+00:00 /journal/entry/internal-dialogue-28-03-2008-19-12-52/ /journal/entry/internal-dialogue-28-03-2008-19-12-52/#When:03:12:00Z Lots of soul-searching today. I went from hating this place this morning to loving it this evening. I’d written a huge update but lost the lot when my PDA crashed just now (probably a sign that it’s stupidly cold) so this’ll be a short one… Journal 2008-03-29T03:12:00+00:00 /journal/entry/every-stride-27-03-2008-17-54-32/ /journal/entry/every-stride-27-03-2008-17-54-32/#When:01:54:32Z Pen Hadow (the only person in history to have made it to the North Pole from Canada alone and without support) sent me a hugely inspiring note just before I left. In it he talked about the importance of making every stride count, a thought that spurred me on for much of today. Journal 2008-03-28T01:54:32+00:00 /journal/entry/lets-go-26-03-2008-18-34-09/ /journal/entry/lets-go-26-03-2008-18-34-09/#When:02:34:00Z Polar expeditions and driving tests have, I’ve just decided, got a lot in common. The scariest bit is sitting and waiting. Journal 2008-03-27T02:34:00+00:00 /journal/entry/chilling-out/ /journal/entry/chilling-out/#When:08:52:00Z “Chill, not ill, man,” was the catchphrase of a particularly laid-back, didgeridoo-playing schoolfriend of my brother, many years ago, and it still makes me smile now. And it’s true of course; on any decent polar expedition, there are so many critical factors that are utterly beyond your control (the temperature, the windspeed, the direction the ice is drifting) that you have to be able to stop worrying about what you can’t change, and only focus on what you can. Journal 2008-03-26T08:52:00+00:00 /journal/entry/hurry-up-and-wait/ /journal/entry/hurry-up-and-wait/#When:10:10:00Z Well, I’m still in Eureka, which is probably good news for my mum as I’ll be tucked up under a duvet tonight rather than shivering in my tent, but rather disappointing for the rest of you logging on for a first installment of derring-do on the Arctic Ocean… Journal 2008-03-25T10:10:00+00:00 /journal/entry/eureka/ /journal/entry/eureka/#When:09:32:00Z Well, I’m not where I thought I’d be this evening. We took off as planned from Resolute Bay first thing this morning, but the tiny Twin Otter plane that was due to carry me up to Ward Hunt Island (the start point for my expedition) developed a mechanical problem as we stopped to refuel at a small weather station called Eureka, and I’m still sat here now! Journal 2008-03-24T09:32:00+00:00 /journal/entry/game-on/ /journal/entry/game-on/#When:12:33:00Z I had my first case of pre-match nerves mid-way through this afternoon, brought on in part by the fact that the only other person trying to get to the North Pole this spring, Hannah McKeand, is currently sat in her tent waiting for a pick-up flight after injuring her back and shoulder. So I’ll have 5.4 million square miles (an area bigger than America) pretty much to myself for the next month. Journal 2008-03-23T12:33:00+00:00 /journal/entry/the-waiting-game/ /journal/entry/the-waiting-game/#When:01:39:00Z We’ve been in Resolute Bay since Monday night, and I’m sorry it’s taken me a while to send a progress report. I’ll be blogging daily from the ice once the expedition starts, but life recently has been so hectic, with everything from weighing carbohydrate powders to testing satellite phones, that I haven’t had time to write. Journal 2008-03-21T01:39:00+00:00 /journal/entry/from-ottowa-to-resolute-bay/ /journal/entry/from-ottowa-to-resolute-bay/#When:20:58:00Z Ben just called us (Erskine, the web chaps) from Ottawa, Canada. He and the support team are about to board a flight up to Resolute Bay. Located on the south coast of Cornwallis Island, Resolute Bay is the “jumping off place” for expeditions to the North Pole. From there, Ben will make his way to Ward Hunt Island, where the speed record attempt will begin later this week. Journal 2008-03-17T20:58:00+00:00