Day 16 - UG

Today is the changeover to the next expedition- skiing to the South Pole. The flight out from Punta is going to arrive pretty late tonight (about 2am) so the poor new people will get a very late night and I will get woken up at about 3am when someone comes into my tent. But these things never go smoothly really. 

Anyway, breakfast is pretty good and I meet the new guide, Tom there. He seems pretty good - knowledgeable and relaxed and likely to give us quite a bit of freedom which is great. One of my first questions is whether, weather and the rest of the team permitting, we can speed up our itinerary to get to the SP for XMas day. Many guides take an instant dislike to such a question (ie the focus on the goal rather than the difficulties of getting there)  but he says he was actually thinking along those lines when he saw the itinerary as well! Great news although we will need to see what the rest of the team thinks. There are two others in the team - another Brit and a Norwegian lady who did the Greenland Crossing earlier this year.      
 

I am having meals with the other group from Vinson and one of them, Saeed is the UAE's leading adventurer / explorer and he is very taken by the trip. As I tell him more about it, there is a telltale gleam in his eye so we ask if he can join us. Luckily, there is space and so he has the morning to think about it whilst I pick up some gear and discuss the expedition a bit more with Tom before heading off to shower and wash my clothes. Apparently clothes dry pretty well out here - dry, sunny and a bit of wind. Clothes freeze in the cold and then sublimate - which is the moisture going from ice to 'steam' bypassing the liquid stage and so drying pretty quickly; not quite sure how it works but it does pretty effectively. 

At lunch, Saeed decides that he is going to come so some speedy arrangements are made and we head off to meet Tom for some more equipment arranging before heading off for a quick 10k ski before supper. It is pretty warm so I decide to wear shorts and just one layer on top which seems to be a good combo for these conditions. It should be quite a bit colder near the pole so hopefully we won't cook with our heavier gear on - we start with a preparatory overnight trip round here and that could be a little tricky clothing wise unless it cools down a bit! Whilst we are moving along, one of the camp vans is heading to intercept us and at first I am a bit concerned that something is wrong but soon they turn a bit and come to a stop about 100m ahead and jump out and lie down to film us - word of the shorts must have spread! We endeavour to look professional as we pass and do so for half the shot, however the conditions on the route deteriorate drastically for the second half with a number of hard, ice sastrugi which are almost impossible to go over without sliding sideways and looking rather ungainly - hopefully we can get a copy of this and see how we look. The other benefit of this trip is that we build an appetite for supper which I was concerned about being too full to enjoy!

Supper is again rather good and after that we pick up our dried washing (I am impressed and a little surprised, I have to admit, by how well it has worked) and sort out our gear for the expedition. All the bad weather at the end of Vinson has meant that most of my electricals are running on empty so I am also trying to get them charged before we head off tomorrow. 

The evening is chatting and bidding farewell to Saeed's team before finishing packing and bed. The 24 hour daylight is confusing as I have just realised that instead of my planned early night to catch up on sleep missed at the end of the last part and cope with the expected wake up when the plane comes in, it is now 12:30! Never mind, as I expect it will be an early night tomorrow. 
 

Food:

Bacon, eggs, fruit salad

Beef stir fry, chicken in a tomato sauce and salad
Mixed seafood in a creamy stew (chupe), salmon in a tomato sauce.