ThePoles.com has posted another Antarctic update today, and for the expeditions out on the ice, it doesn't sound very good. After several weeks of battling high winds, sastrugi, and whiteout conditions, the explorers now have to face a different type of whiteout - Fog! The thick fog that now blankets the South Pole is making it difficult to see, and putting a damper on the spirits of the teams. It's gotten so bad that John Wilton-Davies reports that he can't see more than six inches around his feet.
Meanwhile, the Polar Quest Team claims they were forced to check their compass every ten steps to insure they were stil on course. The Kiwis have passed the halfway point, and dropped a food cache yesterday for the return trip. Hannah continues to report tough going, especially with the return of the whiteout conditions, but is passing the hours of solitude and silence by listening to Hemingway on her iPod. Finally, Ray and Jenny reported fairly easy navigation in spite of the whiteout conditions, and were able to find one of their supply caches without too many issues.
And lest we forget, Team n2i are moving through these same conditions on their way to the Pole of Inaccessibility. Perhaps the coldest, most desolate place on Earth. The are reporting tough going, and the cold conditions have caused team members to have to deal with frostbite already.
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