A Big Day Out
Not a particularly restful Sunday for Ben and Tony: we bashed out our longest day yet, a shade under 20 miles (as the crow flies) in ten hours of skiing.
We finished the day on a real high, with the low Arctic sun behind us illuminating the stunning coastal mountains as they came into view. As we crested the final ridge, I spotted the depot flag we'd left at our very first camp site. Tony was zipping down the slope, about 20 metres to my left, with his sledge threatening to overtake him. Mine was playing up as well, nudging me in the calves several times as it gathered momentum. I decided there was only one thing to do, and sat on top of it to enjoy the express route down the hill. The look on Tony's face as I shot past him at a good 20 mph was priceless.
There's a wonderful feeling of weary satisfaction that only a full day of hard toil can bring. As I neared the North Pole in 2004, I often stretched my days out to 10 or 11 hours of skiing, putting the tent up with wobbly legs and collapsing into my sleeping bag feeling utterly spent. I was amazed by the human body's powers of recuperation and regeneration, and marveled constantly at the fact I could repeat this for weeks at a time without rest (I think I had three or four days off during the 72-day expedition).
I promised Tony a rest day tomorrow if we made it back to the coast in a single push. We'll spend it practicing our crevasse drills, and fitting our new 100-litre Gregory Denali Pro rucksacks before setting off for the icecap again with them (and sans sledges) on Tuesday.
— Filed under Greenland