Posted: Nov 23, 2009 10:00 am EST
(ThePoles.com) Cecilie Skog and Ryan Waters crossed Berkner Island and are skiing on sea ice towards the Dufek Massif their gateway to the Antarctic continent.

Felicity Ashton and her team of seven ladies set off from the Ronne-Filchner Ice Shelf start. Eric Larsen and his team checked in at Patriot Hills and carried on along the mountains towards the endless horizons.

Unassisted, Unsupported

Cecilie Skog and Ryan Waters
– Berkner Island Start

The team reported on 20 November from 81.0000S, 50.0700W that they have left Berkner Island and have been skiing on the ice shelf for a couple days.

“We had bad snow so far, making progress slow but it is all good, we are having fun out here skiing a couple hundred feet above the ocean on ice.”

They added, “We think we may see the Pensacola Mountains now far, far off on the horizon. That is our location to get back on Antarctica mainland, at the Dufek Massif.”

Yesterday Cecilie and Ryan skied half day and covered 11.8 km. Conditions were still tough they reported, and spent the afternoon catching up on repairs and sleep. They are hopeful that things will speed up now.

See the team’s position on their CONTACT map (click here).

Meagan McGrath – solo, Hercules Inlet

No new news, but weather permitting her flight to Antarctica is scheduled for 28/29 November [Ed note: correction, not 23 Nov. as reported previously].

Assisted, Unsupported

Eric Larsen (guide), Dongsheng Liu and Bill Hanlon – Hercules Inlet

The team checked in at Patriot Hills. Eric reported, “It was with a bit of relief that we skied away from the outer perimeter of Patriot Hills camp. It is definitely a welcome outpost in this place where humans really don't belong, but our destiny lies away from even those modest comforts.”

At PH Dong changed his ski/boot system and said he got to work on a new system to make his boots easier to ski in he said.

Eric reported they were climbing slightly while they were treated to “magnificent views of jagged peaks and creamy blue glaciers pouring over in some places.” They also saw the three Nunataks, Three Sails, to their west.

In their latest report Eric said they were settling nicely into our expedition routine and just now starting to divide up the daily tasks.

On 22 November they reported skiing 13.1 nm on flat snow in a white-out with no wind.

Felicity Aston (leader), Era, Stephanie Solomonides, Helen Turton, Reena Kaushal, Kim-Marie Spence, Kylie Wakelin and Sophia Pang – Ronne-Filchner Ice Shelf

The eight girls set off. Steph reported, “Felicity led off, was the honorary leader of our team, as expedition leader. So, you know, we had a really good run, it was really good weather. Sunny for the morning, and then it just got a bit cold in the afternoon and overcast.”

They reported skiing 8.1 nautical miles in 6 hours and were all good in their tents drying off and drying their kit.

Links to ski teams:

Cecilie Skog and Ryan Waters (Norway and USA)

Meagan McGrath (Canada)

ANI Hercules Inlet team Eric Larsen (guide, Canada), Dongsheng Liu (Canada) and Bill Hanlon (Ireland/Canada)

Julio Fiadi (Brazil) (Brazil), Hercules Inlet Start, no updates

Kaspersky Commonwealth team Felicity Aston (United Kingdom, leader), Dk Najibah Eradah binti P. A. M. Al-Sufri Pg M-L Kahar or ‘Era’ (Brunei Darussalam), Stephanie Solomonides (Cyprus), Helen Turton (UK), Reena Kaushal Dharmshaktu (India), Kim-Marie Spence (Jamaica), Kylie Wakelin (New Zealand) and Sophia Pang (Singapore) – Ronne-Filchner Ice Shelf

ANI Ronne-Filchner Ice Shelf team Hannah McKeand (guide, UK) and Arnold Witzig (Swiss/Canada), no updates.

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