On Sunday night, I was glued to the TV watching The Worst Journey In The World. This followed the tale of Bill Wilson, Birdie Bowers and Apsley Cherry-Garrard who crossed Ross Island to retrieve penguin's eggs. They later laid supplies for Scott's failed attempt to reach the South Pole. The drama brought back many memories of my trip across Baffin Island. Watching the men pull sledges across the ice in freezing cold temperatures, I thought, 'I've done that'. Admittedly, their sledges looked a lot bigger but, even so. I found myself examining the amount of ice on their hats and clothes which transported me back into my ice-coated kit. Brrrrr. My balaclava froze on my face and I really did think I was going to get a frostbitten nose. I wriggled it as often as I could to avoid losing it.
On his return, Cherry-Garrard said, "Polar exploration is at once the cleanest and most isolated way of having a bad time that has ever been devised."
Admittedly, we weren't attempting to reach either Pole but at one point we were told, 'This is North Pole weather'. A cheerying thought when you can't touch your ice-coated eye-lashes for fear they will break. Back to the words 'cleanest and most isolated' - I remember one person on our trip marvelling that they had never before seen so much virgin snow. As we looked in the distance all we could see was an expanse of bright white, sparkling snow and ice. Pure. Clean. Untouched. It was a remarkable sight. It took my eyes a while to grow used to the intensity of the white and the light. Now to the word 'Isolation'. There was a sense of isolation as we only met a couple of Inuit hunters during the twelve day trek. But that was a good thing. I don't think anyone in the group would have been pleased to have bumped into another crowd. The fantastic thing about this whole experience was the fact we didn't encounter any Westerners at all. No tourists. No mobiles. No make-up. God, I was worried, but then it was so cold I forgot all about lipstick. Luckily, my whole face was covered most of the time aside from my eyes.
We often walked in single file pulling our sledges behind us so there was plenty of thinking time. How often does anyone get that? From time to time someone would walk beside me, check I could feel my fingers, and then move on. As the days wore on, the conversation went from 'Can you feel your fingers?' 'Are you warm enough?' to 'Do you fancy the North Pole next year then?' Ho, ho, ho. The truth is, I felt as if I was in an Arctic wilderness but I didn't feel isolated.
Despite adversity, the group who went across Ross Island 'kept our tempers even with God'.
It may have been minus 75 but they did what the British do very well and kept their chins up. The upper stiff lip and all that.
The image of one of their group's frostbitten fingers brought a lump to my throat. Then, when another lost all his teeth it looked ghastly.
It struck me on our trip that there is such a thing as Arctic Etiquette. People were very polite and kind even when up against it. However, I am no Arctic Angel and had a few Arctic Moments. The worst was when it was minus 50, blowing a hooly, and we suddenly had to put up our tents. I lost it...ever so slightly. Afterwards, one member of the group said he'd loved it when that happened. Not when I lost it, but when we had such extreme conditions. That's what he'd wanted to experience in the Arctic. I mean, what would be the point of going all that way and simply having 'A Walk in the Park'?
On his return, Cherry-Garrard said, "Polar exploration is at once the cleanest and most isolated way of having a bad time that has ever been devised."
Admittedly, we weren't attempting to reach either Pole but at one point we were told, 'This is North Pole weather'. A cheerying thought when you can't touch your ice-coated eye-lashes for fear they will break. Back to the words 'cleanest and most isolated' - I remember one person on our trip marvelling that they had never before seen so much virgin snow. As we looked in the distance all we could see was an expanse of bright white, sparkling snow and ice. Pure. Clean. Untouched. It was a remarkable sight. It took my eyes a while to grow used to the intensity of the white and the light. Now to the word 'Isolation'. There was a sense of isolation as we only met a couple of Inuit hunters during the twelve day trek. But that was a good thing. I don't think anyone in the group would have been pleased to have bumped into another crowd. The fantastic thing about this whole experience was the fact we didn't encounter any Westerners at all. No tourists. No mobiles. No make-up. God, I was worried, but then it was so cold I forgot all about lipstick. Luckily, my whole face was covered most of the time aside from my eyes.
We often walked in single file pulling our sledges behind us so there was plenty of thinking time. How often does anyone get that? From time to time someone would walk beside me, check I could feel my fingers, and then move on. As the days wore on, the conversation went from 'Can you feel your fingers?' 'Are you warm enough?' to 'Do you fancy the North Pole next year then?' Ho, ho, ho. The truth is, I felt as if I was in an Arctic wilderness but I didn't feel isolated.
Despite adversity, the group who went across Ross Island 'kept our tempers even with God'.
It may have been minus 75 but they did what the British do very well and kept their chins up. The upper stiff lip and all that.
The image of one of their group's frostbitten fingers brought a lump to my throat. Then, when another lost all his teeth it looked ghastly.
It struck me on our trip that there is such a thing as Arctic Etiquette. People were very polite and kind even when up against it. However, I am no Arctic Angel and had a few Arctic Moments. The worst was when it was minus 50, blowing a hooly, and we suddenly had to put up our tents. I lost it...ever so slightly. Afterwards, one member of the group said he'd loved it when that happened. Not when I lost it, but when we had such extreme conditions. That's what he'd wanted to experience in the Arctic. I mean, what would be the point of going all that way and simply having 'A Walk in the Park'?
1 comment:
I am serious about being up for a trip to the North Pole next year ... if you are interested?
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