As many of you already know, last weekend was the American Birkebeiner in Cable, WI. It would have been my fifth year participating, and my third year in the elite wave. Obviously, that wasn’t going to happen, being at the South Pole and all. So, I decided to do my own Antarctic “Birkie”.
Due to the various challenges of skiing here, I knew before I started that I wasn’t going to get 50K, but I decided I would stay out as long as I could and see what that got me. Afterwards, depending on how long I lasted and how I felt, I might head to the gym and do some bungee poling.
My loop is between 5 and 5.5 K, probably closer to the 5 mark. I start over at the cryo facility. Where I’ve been storing my chosen ski gear. Then I head up a small hill over the fuel arches and to the geological pole. After that I take a left and head past the ceremonial pole and ski along the elevated station (folks grabbing a bite to eat from the galley can probably see me ski by). Then across the ski-way, where the planes come in, past MAPO, up to BICEP2/SPT and back. Once I get across the ski-way, I take a right passed the SPX terminal. Then out along the outside of summer camp and the berms, where building materials, fuel, waste crates, etc. are stored. Looking at the map, my route takes me a little bit beyond its borders, to the edge between the berms and the antenna field, where nobody but the satellite techs are allowed to go. Then keep looping until I’m back at cryo.
On Sunday I started bright and early, ~5AM, and I figured I was getting started around the time some of the fasted guys were finishing back in WI. The weather was chilly, about –50F with a wind-chill around –80F. The snow was what it always is here, old, windblown, and squeaky slow. The wind was a calm 6 kts and directed up the path towards the telescopes.
I was able to do one lap before I had to get some pants on. I can’t say that I raced much the course, either. It is tough to get going fast here. Heading out towards the telescopes, when the wind was at my back, was probably when I was able to go the fastest, but heading back in was just plain cold. In all I made it just under 2hrs and about 3 laps, so close to 15-16 K. At that point I was still in decent shape temperature-wise, though my legs were getting a little cold. My biggest problems were my boots giving me blisters on my heels and my buff freezing over to the point where it was getting harder and harder to breathe. I took a look at it after I got inside and the outer layer was pretty much a solid sheet of ice, along with the collar of my jacket and heavy long underwear top, while the inner layer was soaked from the moist air I’d been breathing out.
I did carry my camera along with me, with the intent of taking pictures on my ski. But it decided that –50F was just too cold and all I got was a picture of me at the start.
Anyways, I had fun doing it, and I think I’ll try it again, once I find a pair of boots that fit a little better, maybe at sunset or mid-winter.
Lots of questions :
ReplyDeleteHow do you wax for -50 ?
Are there ski trails, or just plowed roads ?
How hard can you ski/breath in -50 ? (do any people there use breath warmer masks?) http://www.rei.com/product/791254/talus-coldavenger-classic-face-mask
How far from the station are you allowed to stray ?
Can you ski faster than a polar bear? (No bears because no food source for them?? (and bears don't ski:-))
Tx,
RV
Truthfully, I didn't wax for -50. I just took the skis and went. I have heard that there is waxing gear kick around somewhere on station, but I haven't found it yet.
DeleteI can get breathing pretty hard. I've been using a buff to breath through, but once that gets soaked/frozen, it gets pretty hard to suck air through. I actually just found something similar to the mask in you link hiding in the cryo facility, so I think I am going to try it out, see if that makes things any easier.
So far, the furthest I've gone from the station is the kilometer out to BICEP2/SPT. Mainly that is because I don't have to get clearance to go there. If I were to get permission, I could ski down to the end of the ski way (~4 miles). I will probably do that at some point, but for right now, staying around the station is fine, and there is still more to look at/explore out in the berms and summer camp.
Well, obviously polar bears don't ski. But I don't need to to ski fast that them anyways... no polar bears at the South Pole (those lazy bums hang around the North Pole). No animals at all, actually. I guess this summer a skua followed the traverse all the way from McMurdo to here, but it did not stick around (no food).