Quite a difficult start for the Belgians
Published on 11.11.2011 - Antarctic Ice Expedition
Altitude sickness, bad weather, snow storms, general fatigue... Dixie Dansercoer and mate Sam Deltour had hoped for a better start.
Of course the morale of both men is still quite high despite these difficult conditions. But the most stressing in this adventure, is that since teh start three days ago, the duo could not lift one sail up in the air.
Excerpts : "... Yesterday evening (9 November), Sam wrote: We're still stuck in this huge sastrugi zone. Dixie told me he has never seen something like this before. Eolus was really roaring this morning - the wind god lifted up all of the loose snow and visibility was very poor. No way we could travel in those conditions, so we waited in the tent until the afternoon when it calmed down a little. Still hauling the sleds and neither one of us is feeling well, probably due to altitude. No appetite, headache and general fatigue. But, that's how it is. Slowly we'll work our way to better conditions. Spirits are good; joking keeps the smiles on our faces. Not really the start we dreamed of, but adventure remains unpredicatable."
9 November (Sam) : Last night, Sam wrote: "Before the expedition, Dixie told me that this would be a kite adventure. I envisioned not a man-hauling trek, but a smooth glide along the ice. All of the scientists, experts, maps of the route - everything pointed to a solid kite expedition. Alas, we don't have everything in theory planned perfectly."
Yesterday, Dixie and Sam progressed by trekking another 5 km in an increasingly heavy wind amid the incessant sastrugi. They were forced to join up and pull each sled of 200 kg with the 2 of them. They would then go back and repeat with the second sled. Hard labor.
