Timekeeping

Every year I say never again. The problem is that I have a very short memory and after each trip only remember the good times!

Last year when I did this we had perfect weather with beautiful bright sunshine. This year conditions are much harder.

This has caused a bit of panic in the camp that we won’t actually make it to the Pole on time. In fact we’re on schedule and are increasing the miles we walk each day. Eventually we should be making it up to eight hours of walking.

The team is well, although a few have a touch of wind burn as souvenirs.

When we do finish each day we fall into the tent as quickly and efficiently as possible, as we are all absolutely exhausted. And I must say that the walking wounded make me feel humble at the end of every day.

You're never too old for adventure!

Well we’re finally here and on the ice. And to think this was originally just a concept thrown out there while sharing a beer with Justin and Malcolm after coming down from Everest last year.

Every year I say that I’m too old for all this – but here I am 30 years on still loving every second of it.

The diversity of the group is brilliant. From 23 year olds to 66 year olds, soldiers to Olympic athletes to businessmen. But every single one of us shares a love of adventure, and we’ve gelled together incredible well.

Shakeout training at Union Glacier has gone really well, now it’s time to get down to business.

Last Minute Packing

I’m doing the last minute packing before I leave tomorrow a couple of days ahead of everybody else.

Although I’ve been on several trips like this there’s always something new and challenging. It’s always a very apprehensive time, making sure all the gear has arrived. It’s not much fun if your skis are on one flight, your boots are going in the other direction and you arrive in South America just in your skiddies!

It is very interest on these trips to see the group develop. First of all you get the macho alpha male bullshit until they realise that at minus 40 no one gives a damn then people start to settle down.

The first time the whole team will meet up will be in Punta Arenas. At the moment we haven’t decided on who is going in each tent. The only thing I am sure of is that I will be leading the group and Justin will be helping.

At the present time we’re not sure if there will be 10 or 11 people in all.; this throws up many variables. If we have 11 people we will have 2 tents of 4 and 1 tent of 3. It will be completely different if we only have 10 as we could have 2 tents of 4 and 1 of 2 or 1 tent of 4 and 2 of 3 but I think for camaraderie and speed of putting the tents up and down it would be better to simply have 2 tents of 5. The big problem with this is that we have 2 huge horses coming, one in the name of Hector Macleod and one in the name of Matt Pinsent so we will definitely have to split those two up. I will also be splitting the soldiers up. We will have to put a lot of thought in to it.

Once I arrive in Punta the business of sorting the kit which we freighted down in advance will start. Nick Martin and his son Sam are flying down with me to lend a hand. We will be preparing the sleds for each individual and adapting everything for the South Pole. We will be testing the tracking device, sat phones and stoves. This is the last place that we can make any modifications or get any replacements. It will be a long few days and it will be very late before we can relax with the help of our Pisco Sour. This is a lethal local cocktail of rocket fuel with a dash of lemon. I had my first tasted this 20 years ago, the first one was delicious but on the second one I couldn’t find my mouth and ended up wearing it all down my front; they really are that lethal!

One day before we fly in to Antarctica we will visit the statue of Magellan. There is a local superstition that if you kiss the toe of the statue you will come back safely; It takes a very brave person not to do it!

We will have a final briefing and a last check of the gear before we get ready for our flight to Union Glacier camp  in the Antarctic – then the real training starts.