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Peter’s Pictures | Reflections | Letters from Home | Interactive Map
COMPETITION!
Win tickets for you and a guest to the Race to the Pole Welcome Home Reception at The Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace on the 16th of February 2012! All you have to do is make a donation via the JustGiving.com page to enter our prize draw. There are two tickets (plus a guest each) up for grabs – the winners will be announced on January 20th 2012.
AMUNDSEN TEAM
Distance to the Pole (straight line): 227 nmi
Total distance travelled: 470 nmi
LISTEN TO THE AUDIO REPORT
In Association with the Royal British Legion
Lou Rudd gives us Day 50′s update from the Amundsen team, and it sounds as if it could have been a non-starter if it wasn’t for a text message from Lou’s better half Lucy – it just goes to show how important the support of friends and family at home is to the guys.
At 12.8 nautical miles, the guys are on target for their next milestone, the 87th degree. However, the altitude and slog through the Axel Heiberg have clearly taken a lot out of Lou and Henry – let’s hope things will improve as they acclimatise. The sledges too will become lighter as they consume their food.
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MAP & SITREP
Please keep pressing the ‘play’ button to advance to the next slide of the presentation.
SCOTT TEAM
Distance to the Pole (straight line): 305 nmi
Total distance travelled: 468.5 nmi
LISTEN TO THE AUDIO REPORT
We have two, no, three audio reports from the Scott team today, and they haven’t even gone anywhere! The first from Mark Langridge was left at the beginning of Day 50, in which he explains the reasons for staying for their decision to stay tentbound for the day – no visibility, cold temperatures, deep crevasses all around and a dodgy sledge. Certainly best to play it safe!
Our second (and third reports) are from a rather jubilant Vic Vicary. We’re glad to hear the time spent in the tent hasn’t been wasted – Christmas comes early for Team Scott! Where are the jingle bells?! There’s talk of turkey, pork scratchings, sloe gin and Chivas Regal, as the guys get down and party. Sounds like a riot, literally.
We also get a Christmas Top Ten from Vic, it really is something you can only listen to, readers. There aren’t enough words in the world to describe it. Enjoy!
Can’t see the audio player? Download the audio as an MP3
(Click to open directly or right-click and choose “save target or “save link as”)
Can’t see the audio player? Download the audio as an MP3
(Click to open directly or right-click and choose “save target or “save link as”)
Can’t see the audio player? Download the audio as an MP3
(Click to open directly or right-click and choose “save target or “save link as”)
MAP & SITREP
Please keep pressing the ‘play’ button to advance to the next slide of the presentation.
PETER’S PICTURES
Here are some more pictures from Peter Otway’s archive, showing the areas through which our teams are now passing. The images show an aerial view of “Old Man Beardmore”; the great Sir Walter “Wally” Herbert looking down on Shackleton Icefalls and Buckley Island; an aerial view from Plunket Point looking towards the mouth of the Beardmore Glacier; a view across the Wild icefalls; and lastly, Wally Herbert’s shaded map covering the area from the Axel Heiberg Glacier on the left to the Beardmore Glacier on the right, and their relative sizes. Thanks, Peter!
Click on any of these images to see a larger version. Please be patient if they take a few minutes to load, the high resolution versions are quite large!
Aerial view of the neve of the Beardmore with the Polar Plateau stretching beyond. Forbidding country!
Wally Herbert contemplating the Shackleton Icefalls and Buckley Island. Shackleton and Scott, and Henry Worsley in 2008, all followed a route virtually under the 'island'. The Wild Icefalls, which Team Scott has just ascended, are seen in the distance on the far side.
Aerial view from above Plunket Point looking 90 nautical miles north down to the entrance of the Beardmore with Mt Hope on the left and Mt Kyffin on the right. Cloudmaker (with its small cloud) in the middle distance, extreme left, with Wedge Face opposite.
Aerial view looking southeast across the Wild Icefalls in the upper Beardmore, with Buckley Island beyond, to the left, and Mt Darwin to the right. The Shackleton Icefalls and the Dominion Range are in the left background with the Polar Plateau to the right. Team Scott sledged past the near side of the whitish heavily crevassed area in the centre of the photo on Day 49 and are now tent-bound just a mile or so beyond.
Wally Herbert's relief shaded map. It covers the area from the Axel Heiberg in the east, top left, to the Beardmore 125 nautical miles to the west on the right. Note that south is at the top.
REFLECTIONS
Part 1: ‘Shanks’ Pony vs. Shaggy Dogs’
A series of reflections on Antarctic travels past and present, by Peter Otway. In the early 1960s, Peter surveyed much of the areas through which our teams are now passing. In this, Part 1, Peter compares the use of dogs with manhauling.
“As I have followed Teams Scott and Amundsen on their long slog across the featureless Ross Ice Shelf and now, heaving their way up two very different but equally treacherous glaciers leading to the South Pole, it has taken me back half a century to the days I was in a team exploring and mapping much of the same terrain as part of the New Zealand geological and survey mapping programme with Brit Wally Herbert as our experienced and inspirational leader. Perhaps more than most, I have felt their highs and lows as they battle every obstacle and hardship the Antarctic can throw in their path, and their dogged determination to achieve their goal whatever the odds.”
Click here to read Part 1 of Peter Otway’s Reflections in full
LETTERS FROM HOME
We give voice to the loved ones of our intrepid adventurers. This week, Tracey Ceaton, sister of Mark Langridge, shares her thoughts:
“I stood in the card shop with the festive music blaring out and I saw a card ‘To my Brother at Christmas’. As I looked at the picture I was transported back to Christmas as a child with my brother Mark, exciting and happy memories of such a magical time. I bought the card and wrote a very personal message to Mark telling him exactly what it means to be his sister.”
“It’s a shame in life that not everyone ‘gets on’ with their siblings, well I am one of the lucky ones who does! I love my brother and I am in absolute awe of what he has and what he will continue to achieve in his life. I have never known anyone with more ‘gritted teeth’ determination than Mark. If you tell him it can’t be done he will prove you wrong!
“Each night I lie in bed and think of him and the other lads and exactly what they are putting themselves through (doesn’t always lead to a restful sleep). I smile as I recall from the age of about 10 Mark continually saying ‘I am going to go to the South Pole one day’. ‘Yeah yeah’ I said and bet him my 10p pocket money that he wouldn’t. In January 2009 he completed his solo trip to the Pole…….. I gave him the 10p – he kept his word and I kept mine! Keep going Mark your family couldn’t be prouder!”
If you’re a family member or close friend, and would like to send your message out to all the readers, please do email Andrew Gough (webmaster) at info@scottamundsenrace.org.
INTERACTIVE MAP
Keep track of both teams with our interactive Google Earth map. Zoom in to see each day’s progress, with the position marked by pictures of team leaders Henry Worsley and Mark Langridge. Click on the icon to see that day’s sitrep in full.
View SACR in a larger map
A Special Message to all Schools
The three schools that raise the most funds for the Scott-Amundsen Race and the Royal British Legion will be rewarded with a visit from the Scott team! Mark, Vic and Kev will give a full presentation during their visit, with slides, videos, images, in short, the full works.
Schools wishing to donate should do so via the JustGiving.com page. Enter the name of your school when donating, and email Andy the webmaster atinfo@scottamundsenrace.org to make sure we register your donation.
We’d also like to invite all the schools that are following the progress to contact the webmaster, so that you can be mentioned on a new “Scott-Amundsen Schools” page. Please include a very short text on your school and any SACR-related activities, especially fundraising efforts! We’ll list your school plus a link to your website.
