Day 38
S79 45' 39.60", W82 51' 24.84"
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Martin does a test-haul in Union Glacier, and the team prepare to return to the ice.
“Hi good evening everyone, it’s Lou reporting in on day 38 of the expedition now, and Christmas Eve here in Union Glacier.
This morning we went out, myself and Martin, we skied the 10km loop that they’ve got here at Union Glacier; just for Martin really to see how his healing of his Achilles is going. And that went well. He took his pulk with him, which was about half a load in there. We just took it nice and steady. We took a couple of hours skiing round this marked loop around the perimeter of Union Glacier camp. He had a little bit of a small, dull ache in his Achilles tendon, but nothing compared to how it was before. So definitely it seems to be healing quite well, which is good.
We reported back to the medics, and they’re content. Now we’ve been scheduled and approved to deploy out on the last degree, which is great news. It’s probably still not going to be for another three to four days before we’ll be able to go. There’s a backlog because of the poor weather we’ve been experiencing recently. There’s been a backlog of several teams here, waiting to go and do the last degree. They’ve managed to get some of them out today, and so for myself and Martin, we’ll definitely be here tomorrow, for Christmas Day, and hopefully within a couple of days of that, we’ll be looking to get on a lift, go out, and ski the last 60 nautical miles to the South Pole. Which will be amazing, so we’re really looking forward to that.
We’ll take that steady, again so we don’t cause any further issues to his Achilles. And then it looks like we’ll be able to get back in sufficient time for a couple of days’ rest and recovery after that. Re-role into mountaineering mode, and then head over to Mount Vinson base camp, which is a short flight from here, and hopefully then tackle Mount Vinson. So everything’s looking good. The weather’s improved dramatically here today at Union Glacier, we’ve had a lot of wind and snow over the last three days, but that’s settled now as well. Things are looking good, and we’re looking forward to Christmas Day tomorrow, and doing a blog for you all on Christmas Day from Antarctica. We’re definitely going to get a white Christmas out here. I’m not sure how the weather is back with you guys!
All progressing well, and looking forward to getting back out on expedition in the coming days. That’s all from us, on Christmas Eve, and we look forward to speaking to you all on Christmas Day.
Onwards.”
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