Great moments of adventure
Published on 20.12.2009 - General Info
From time to time, Eric Larsen and his two companions have managed to report back on some exciting things about the ups and downs of their adventure. Who said they were introspective?
It is quite rare in the world of polar adventuring that the adventurers themselves let their guard down a little and talk openly about their impressions of travel at the poles. First of all, they don't always have the time, and second, they are usually preoccupied with what they are doing. We have already written extensively on this topic (emphasising the fact that women seem to be more communicative than men) as we follow the adventures of the eight girls on the Kaspersky Commonwealth Expedition.
But for this particular expedition, there is a very special atmosphere in the dispatches that is no way leaves the reader indifferent. Eric Larsen does, of course, report on the technical (practical) side of the trek, but from time to time he also writes about the meanderings of the mind that guide the men as they accomplish their daily tasks. This was the case on 14th December (a date so memorable for the conquest of the South Pole and by Amundsen and his men), when Larsen spoke about the moment in every expedition when the team members manage to overcome, if not transcend, the everyday minor trials and tribulations. He talks about the time when having already been 20, 30 or even 40 days out on the ice, the appearance of whiteout conditions or a field of crevasses, for example, or the threat of an ocean smothered in clouds that hang heavy in the air, or the presence of sastruggis or soft snow (which slows down the rate at which a person can ski or haul a sledge), cease to appear as obstacles to be overcome, but rather as tangible elements that merely need to be taken into account and treated more as an ally than an enemy.
A few days later, he also told us about the way they are able to take pleasure from small things and appreciate the tiniest pleasures after trudging across the ice for a long time. It might be a beautiful shaft of light that suddenly appears and helps boost your mood, or a fine vista ahead that that can buck you up for hours on end, or seeing human or animal shapes in the edge of a mountain. Silence can become an enjoyable conversation, or there's the pleasure of turning round and admiring the straightness of your tracks behind you  all of which reminds you that you have come a long way to create a whole range of fine thoughts and gestures.
