What a difference a few miles can make...

It's amazing the difference a few miles can make. Two of our teams reported great conditions with big flat pans of ice, while another team encountered a lot of open water that hindered northward progress. This is common in the pack ice near the North Pole, where one hour you can have wonderful ice and the next be in a maze of pressure ridges and open water leads. It keeps things exciting and no two days, or hours, are ever alike. The weather today was around -20 C with a light wind. The Last Degree Ski Team saw three birds yesterday and they are curious what kind they might be. They appeared to have a wing span of around 2 feet with a white belly and grey and black wings with white tips. They couldn't get a close view because the birds were in the air. If any of you readers know what kind of bird this might be let us know!

The Last Degree Dogsled Team reported in from N89.20.9 after spending much of the day trying to find their way around a 1/4 mile by 2 mile open water lead. They traveled east and then south before arriving in an area where the ice was active with moving rubble and ridges. Then they headed back west and found an area where the lead petered out, much like a river's delta. They got across and traveled a little further before making camp. There was a lot of great team work building ice bridges and doing general construction to get over ridges and across leads. It's hard but satisfying work. They are hoping the large pans of ice the other teams are seeing come their way tomorrow. When they called in they were just getting ready for dinner. They have been happily snacking on Tim Tams, a special chocolate treat from Australia brought by team member Cheryl Bart. Thanks Cheryl!

Lots of open water can make northward progress very difficult

The Chinese Ski Team reported their position as N 89.41.680, W 179.38.785. They had great conditions today and made nearly 8 nautical miles. They saw only a couple of frozen leads and one seal poking its head through an area of open water. They also found polar bear tracks that look to be several days old. They are all doing great and they are enjoying the adventure.

Seal in lead (photo from Mr. Li, 2011 ski team)

The Last Degree Ski Team reported in from N 89. 35. 511, E 176.09. Like the Chinese team they experienced great ice conditions with big pans of ice and few obstacles. They skied for 6 hours and made approximately 9 nautical miles, averaging close to 1.75 nautical miles an hour. Everyone is doing well. For dinner several team members ate chicken quesadillas and everyone loved the special dessert that Sebastian brought from home. They'd like to give a special shout out to his mom for making them!