A ‘Picturesque’ Arrival
Published on 19.11.2009 - Kaspersky Commonwealth Antarctic Expedition
The eight women of the Kaspersky Commonwealth Expedition arrived at Patriot Hills with ALE Logistics on 12 November. Since then, there's been nothing but a constant blizzard.
Was this a bit of luck or not? Who knows? It remains the case that these eight Polar Region neophytes (except for the expedition leader) were welcomed on to the 6th continent's ice by a succession of extra-special blizzards. This plunged them forthwith into a fine expedition atmosphere. The wind blew so violently that several of the girls' expedition tents were damaged and that, while waiting to repair the damage, they had to borrow some survival equipment from the ALE crew.
In short, the welcome was rather cold and you can read in the podcasts sent by the girls (each day several of them write their impressions) that they only became acclimatised to these severe weather conditions on the fourth or fifth day of their stay in the tourist base.
Two days ago, the eight-woman group went off from there on a mini-training-expedition in the area immediately around the base for testing both the equipment and their human resistance. Because even though the Hercules Inlet - South Pole trek has now became a polar tradition for tourists in want of adventure, the challenge nevertheless requires strong minds and bodies if the various trials and tribulations are to be overcome and the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station is one day to be discovered.
