Felicity Aston is in Punta Arenas
Published on 10.11.2011 - Kaspersky One TransAntarctic Expedition
British explorer Felicity Aston
© Aston's website
Briton explorer Felicitiy Aston has arrived in Punta Arenas, where she is waiting for her ALE/ANI Ilyoushine flight to take her to Union Glacier base camp. We know more now about her itinerary to cross the 6th Continent.
Here is how Felicity describes the last preparation of her food rations : "... I have had a very busy week in Punta Arenas in Chile. All my equipment arrived in good order but, apart from the Fuizion Freeze Dried meals that I brought with me from the UK I had to buy and prepare all my expedition rations right here in the room of my hostel. First were the breakfast bags (oats with sugar, powdered milk and a generous knob of butter), then the day bags (499g of goodies per day including sesame snaps, salted peanuts, chip sticks, peanut butter cups, coconut chocolate bars, white chocolate maltesers, marzipan, jelly sweets, toblerone, twix and milk chocolate) and supplements (16 different pills daily containing 6 different vitamins and minerals), and finally adding the evening meals, High5 carbohydrate and protein drinks, coffee, hot chocolate drink and daily loo paper ration!
" Yesterday all my bags for Antarctica were weighed and loaded onto the aircraft. I had five large kit bags in total plus a set of skis and a bundle of sledges. It will be a relief when I see them again in Antarctica. The flight was due to depart today but the news is that there has been a lot of snow on the runway in Antarctica, followed by high winds and there is also one flight that has to go in ahead of us. For now I’m happy to have an enforced day off (no equipment here to be tempted to play with!) and enjoying my favourite things about Chile (churros, Pisco Sours and the liberal use of avocado on everything) but still, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it won’t be too many days before I’m on my way. ..."
Conerning her itinerary, F. Aston is going to be dropped at The foot of the Leverett Glacier from where she will start her journey. Skiing up the Leverett Glacier, through the Transantarctic mountains? she will climb onto the Polar Plateau and head for the South Pole. After collecting a resupply of food and fuel at the Pole, Felicity will continue across the Polar Plateau to the coast of Antarctica at the edge of the Ronne Ice Shelf. Arriving at Hercules Inlet, Felicity will have traversed the entire Antarctic continent.
