Antarctica Blog - Day 16 - 2nd January 2013
Skied 33.5km/20 miles today, good conditions but windy. Tired so I will do a full update tomorrow morning. Rich.
Skied 33.5km/20 miles today, good conditions but windy. Tired so I will do a full update tomorrow morning. Rich.
On Friday I was picked up by twin otter plane on the ice. There was a bit of liaising with the pilots to do and some discussion as to whether they could land at my location but on Friday conditions were good and they were able to land and pick me up. …
39 days ago Richard Parks set out on an R&D expedition to ski solo, unassisted and unsupported from Hercules Inlet on the Geographical coastline of Antarctica to the Geographic South Pole. Richard’s route to the South Pole was approximately…
Hi Guys. Well my hashtag “back in the game” was short lived. I skied for 3 hours yesterday covering 4.27km. My 30km day on Wednesday, which seemed really promising for everyone including myself, was considerably tougher than any other 30km day I had…
Hi guys. My food fest was awesome last night. I had coke, pizza, my Fuizion deserts, crisps, treats, it was great. I spent quite a while sorting my food bags out for the rest of the expedition and tonight I have eaten the last of my awesome Fuizion…
9.30pm GMT/6.30pm local timeI am a happy man guys! Got the food! The pilots managed to land about a kilometre away, I actually spoke with humans which was pretty awesome!Just got back in the tent and I am sorting my food out and all the ALE staff have…
6.30pm GMT/3.30pm local timeThe last few days have felt like they have been genuinely the darkest, difficult and challenging days I have experienced. I feel like I have been tested physically, mentally and emotionally to the limit.It has been so…
Hi Guys. I am just sat in my tent sitting out some bad weather conditions. Yesterday morning after I spoke to Roy Noble on the radio and blogged weather conditions were bad with completely flat light so I decided to sit it out for a few hours and wait…
MORNING UPDATEOn Friday conditions were very very cold with a strong headwind. I fell on the sastrugi and twisted my knee a little so it halted my progress and I had to pitch my tent and call it a day.My knee is sore, it slowed me down a bit yesterday…
Yesterday was another ironic day, a cruel twist from the mistress that is Antarctica but what started a really poor day turned out to be quite a positive day and my morale is much higher this morning I am feeling a lot more positive.Yesterday started out…
After posting my blog yesterday the wind dropped which was a real relief so packing the tent was comfortable which was nice as it’s getting harder and harder to get going in the mornings. Conditions were glorious, total bluebird, winds were light but I…
Yesterday was another tough day, really slow progress. I was wrestling and fighting for every metre. The sastrugi conditions are as horrific as early reports have suggested. It’s really demorolising, especially when I have been making some great…
EVENING UPDATEHi guys. To put it bluntly I had a nightmare day today, it’s been a rubbish day. Yesterday was disappointing so this morning I was all revved up ready to go. I went out early, it was cold but conditions were good so the first 4 hours I…
MORNING UPDATEYesterday was fu***ng savage. Climbing, sastrugi and a headwind. Was a brutal day. I felt like I was wrestling with my pulk, with my mind, with my body, every metre of the 27.1km/16 miles I did yesterday.It was really cold in the morning;…
Tough going again yesterday. Especially after the day before. I was still a bit frazzled from Friday. I woke up to glorious conditions, no wind, bluebird sky and the first hour getting the heavy legs out of me was just awesome. It took me about an…
Morning guys. It’s been a tough couple of days but rewarding. Thursday I woke up and changed my clothing system a little as it’s starting to get significantly colder and I wore my Rab Strata Jacket. It’s a new windproof insulated jacket that Rab have…
Good day but tired. Skied 32.5k/20 miles. Great conditions except for a cold headwind - just a lot of up! At 1,764m. Blog 2moro #neednewlegs
Hi Guys. Another tiring day today but first yesterday. I skied for 9½ hours and covered 34.3km/21 miles/18.51 nautical miles. Great conditions yesterday but I started to climb to 1,505m in altitude and I also had challenging sastrugi, it was hard…
Hi Guys. Absolutely shattered here. 34.3km/21 miles today. So tired in my bag, blog properly tomorrow.#sastrugisuck #epicfewdaysahead
Hi Guys. Yesterday, was a good day, had a good chat with Roy Noble in the morning on BBC Radio Wales and had good conditions throughout the day, which was nice after the poor day before. Just had a good steady day.Yesterday I got my first glimpse of the…
MORNING UPDATEHi guys. I woke up yesterday morning feeling tired but still really positive and happy. After going to bed in perfect conditions I woke up and it was pretty cold. I looked out of the tent, the light was pretty flat, cloud cover was quite…
Hi guys. Good day today. Pretty good conditions, patches where it was a little harder going through softer snow as I had no glide on the skis but I had a very light headwind which was really nice, it just kept my temperature under control and I made…
Hi guys. Feeling good today but an update on yesterday first. I was tired yesterday and my body was screaming, that’s why I didn’t do a full blog, I just wanted to get into my sleeping bag and hibernate.I skied 33.5km/20 miles/18.07 nautical miles. …
EVENING BLOGHi Guys. I am absolutely boll*cksed. It’s been a wonderful and totally epic day but as I didn’t blog last night I’ll start with yesterday. This sounds insane but I genuinely can’t remember what happened yesterday, my focus is so much on one…
MORNING BLOGHi Guys. Really windy this morning and I want to get going so I will call in tonight with a full update on yesterday and today. Yesterday I skied 32.7km/20 miles. Speak to you later guys, Happy New Year!
Morning guys! Thought I’d send you an unexpected morning message! Another big day ahead of me inching closer to the Pole, conditions looks good, still windy but good visibility. Just had scrambled egg, bacon and mushrooms for breakfast, drinking my…
It’s been a good day at the office today. Started off in to another headwind and throughout the day the wind died down and as I put camp up tonight the silence was quite eerie, you could here a pin drop. I skied for 9 hours and covered 34.3km/18.51…
Hi Guys. Thought I would fill you in a bit more about yesterday first before I start on today. Yesterday morning started off badly. It was really windy in the night and it was so windy that I didn’t hear my alarm on my watch because of the noise of the…
Another tough day today were really high winds this morning and a real strong headwind all day. I climbed about 150m as well so it’s been a tough day all round. I am now at 1,024m. I travelled 27.4km/17 miles/14.78 nautical miles today, skied for 8 and…
Hi Guys. Yesterday I had great conditions, under foot and visibility wise it was just a really good day, I woke up feeling positive and happy and the day went well. It was a memorable day too as I crossed the 82 degree line of latitude which felt really…
SHORT UPDATE - Hi guys. Ran out of credit on my sat phone last night after my sked call but all topped up this morning, yesterday I skied for 9 hrs and covered 34.43km/21 miles. Just had breakfast and all prepped for today so I’ll do a longer update of…
Another big day today guys. I skied for 9 hours and covered 32.5km/17.5 nautical miles/20 miles. I am going to aim to hit that every day now as my target. I’m tired but now I have got in to the groove and my day systems are pretty tight. My morale is…
It’s been a real good day today guys, I skied for 9 hours and covered 32.09km/19 miles. Conditions were great, going was really good and I had a good morning, which set me off on the right foot. I have had 6 days easing myself in and I knew at some point…
Long day today, first of many! 8.5 hour ski, 29.3km/18 miles covered. Great to be in 81 degrees. Only 10 to go! Moderate head wind but good conditions. Was windy pitching tent and awesome to get in bag! All good, Rich.
Yesterday was my best day so far, I covered 27.4km/17 miles and the going was good. I was having trouble with the skins on my skis yesterday morning so I took them off and put on my spares and my new set were a little wider which made things better, just…
Richard Parks began his solo expedition on Monday to ski from Hercules Inlet on the Geographical coastline of Antarctica to the Geographic South Pole and today marks day 5 of his journey.He arrived at Union Glacier base camp on Monday and was then dropped…
I woke up this morning and conditions were perfect apart from a moderate head wind, which kept me honest. This morning I had my first poo and I almost cried when I felt the weight of it and put it in my Pulk. For those that don’t know you have to carry…
23.30pm GMT/20.30pm local timeI’ve got 2 full days under my belt, and just easing my way in, I feel like I am making good progress. Yesterday on my first day it was tough going as there was a lot of climbs because the sea ice is naturally concaved so the…
Hi Guys. Started at 4.00pm GMT/ 1.00pm Chilean time. Easing into it with a 6 hour day today. Tough climb out of Hercules Inlet. A modest 15k skied. All good. Rich.
Hi Guys. We are all systems go here! I am being picked up to fly on to Antarctica tomorrow morning at 7.20am (10.20GMT on Monday 17th). Had a final briefing today, then all my gear was collected and weighed to be taken on to the Russian Ilyushin jet…
Hey Guys! My world has completely changed after the uncertainty of the last week. I opened my eyes a very happy man this morning to see my hotel room chaotically covered with my gear. So far my gear’s done more miles than me!Although I would have…
Hi Guys. Been busy over the last day arranging with my parents and team for one of the team to fly over with my bags. My team picked up all my gear from Dynamic in the UK this morning and one of the team is on route with all my gear today. I’m lending…
Hey Guys. Pretty stressful day yesterday!...I woke up yesterday thinking my freight was in either here Punta or Miami and it was just a case of finding it and then hopefully still getting on the plane to Antarctica today but then yesterday morning they…
Hi Guys! I got here last night at about 8pm/9pm local time after 26 hours of travelling. I was pretty wiped out but I slept well. Forgotten how windy it is in Punta! Also currently doing my best to eat as much of Punta’s steak and hamburgers as I…
Richard Parks leaves the UK today to head back to Antarctica to ski from Hercules Inlet on the Geographical coastline of Antarctica to the Geographic South Pole.
Hi Guys, it’s game time! My flight leaves tonight from Heathrow Airport and I am due to arrive in Punta Arenas in Chile tomorrow. This is my new micro site where you’ll be able to read my Antarctica blog and latest news. My new official website will be…
Richard Parks leaves the UK today to head back to Antarctica to ski from Hercules Inlet on the Geographical coastline of Antarctica to the Geographic South Pole.Hercules Inlet is one of the recognised start points for South Pole expeditions on the…
Richard heads to South Pole for crucial expedition