The Arctic-Arc - A race against time
Alain and Dixie
© International Polar Foundation
Alain Hubert and Dixie Dansercoer continue their progression across the hardly travelled route extending from the North Pole to Greenland. But, even though they are progressing quickly, they are beginning to wonder whether they will have sufficient time to reach their goal ...
Everyday life during a polar expedition is usually regular clockwork : getting up at 7 am, cooking breakfast, breaking camp, walking during 8 to 10 hours while alternating the " lead walker " at regular time intervals, stoping to build the camp, eating... That said, numerous elements do make each day different: the changing weather, the different types of ice on which they progress, the landscapes which are sometimes magical, etc. It is fascinating to explicitly tell in what their everyday life is like in their interview by satellite telephone.
They both agree that they now have a good pace: they are advancing at an average speed of 13 kilometres a day (15 kilometres a day if we take the ice drift into account). That is a good speed, but will it be sufficient? Indeed, they still have more than 550 kilometres to go before they reach Greenland. At this speed they should reach Greenland beginning of July, which is very late in the season. Indeed sea ice melts during the summer... The suspense is complete : will they succeed to reach Greenland before too much sea ice has melted?
Moreover, the conditions in this badly known area of the arctic are not easy and our two explorers have to plan out their route in order to compensate for the ice drift, forcing them to make a longer journey. "It's obvious, we've come to a turning point in the expedition," explains Alain Hubert "because on the one hand time is running out and, on the other, which is a little worrying, we know absolutely nothing about the conditions we are to expect in the upcoming days. It should be brought to your attention that nobody has ever been here before so, who knows whether or not we will encounter areas of almost uncrossable ice? How will the drift behave? Since we left the pole, we've been walking in such a way as to compensate for the effect of the Arctic drift. Will we have to keep on walking this way?"
However, despite the anxiety which, it seems, will be afflicting the remainder of the expedition, Alain and Dixie are filling each day with pleasure and poetry, as explained by Dixie in his interview: the simple flight of a thin ice sheet carried away by the wind is enough to fill them with wonder!
