Drifting southwards
Published on 28.04.2009 - General Info
On 26th April, the two men were 240 km from the geographic North Pole. And even though the pack-ice is not the most hospitable place to be, they have had some terrific luck: the natural drift...
On Tuesday 21st April, Arnaud Tortel informed his wife Lycia by satellite that since the previous Wednesday, i.e. 15th April, they had travelled an additional 35 km southwards (in addition to their daily marches) thanks to the direction of drift taken by the pack-ice.
Usually, when expeditions are heading towards the Pole, they complain about the effects of drifting southwards, calling it 'negative' drift. No doubt it was this same negative drift that prevented Copeland and Heger from reaching the Pole in time (see our update). But in this case, as the men are going in the opposite direction, the drift is working in their favour. Which, no doubt, is why they have been able to stay in their tent when the weather has been too bad outside -and still make progress in the right direction.
In other words, Hedrich and Tortel are making good progress. They are marching for about eight hours each day, adding a further 15 km or so each evening to their tally. All is well in the team and morale is high.
