Hello again folks,
Sorry there hasn’t been a post for the last couple of weeks, but, unless you want to hear about us pulling tyres around, not a lot has been going on.
This weekend however, that has all changed. Had a very informative meeting with our guide, we went through the whole of the expedition’s itinerary, from training, through to how we will be getting off the icecap at the end of the journey. The training, obviously this involves “tyre pulling”, on top of this, I have enrolled in a local gym, which I am hoping to attend in the mornings before work and if I have the energy, some nights on the way home! Not sure how many mornings that I will be going, but, I would like to get it up to 4-5 times a week by the new year.
Now that I have a bit more information about the trip, I will be able to write future entry’s as they become relevant
Hope to post again soon.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
back again
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Down jacket
This week, the down jacket; this jacket is part of the Rab 8000 m range. This jacket will primarily used when we stop for breaks and stetting up camp. There are eight huge pockets, so plenty of room for camera, I-pod, and food. It will be important to keep anything electronic warm along the journey, as the cold strips any battery power. Also the hood is fantastic; I’d say that this jacket is better than most sleeping bags that I have owned.
Which brings me to “The weather” Found a site today, giving details from around the world. http://weather.weatherbug.co.uk/ looking just before I wrote this the temperature in Greenland is, - high -18 low -20.
Looking forward to meeting our guide in a couple of weeks, it will be great to actually get a training programme so that we can see some progress.
Have got e-mails coming in all the time, it is hard trying to do your regular job, and also all the work for the trip. Hopefully it will all settle down after we have had the first training weekend and we will know exactly what we are doing.
Take care for now.
Which brings me to “The weather” Found a site today, giving details from around the world. http://weather.weatherbug.co.uk/ looking just before I wrote this the temperature in Greenland is, - high -18 low -20.
Looking forward to meeting our guide in a couple of weeks, it will be great to actually get a training programme so that we can see some progress.
Have got e-mails coming in all the time, it is hard trying to do your regular job, and also all the work for the trip. Hopefully it will all settle down after we have had the first training weekend and we will know exactly what we are doing.
Take care for now.
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Stove.
Hello again folks,
Things are really getting a little bit bonkers at the moment! There is so much going on. Had a reply from one of my begging e-mails this week, Furtec ( http://www.furtech.co.uk ) have very generously agreed to give me one of their Claw jackets to use on the crossing.
Spoke to Charlie Patton, and he will be coming down to meet us in a couple of weeks, so will be able to sort out the final kit list, and training programme.
This weeks bit of kit is the stove. The M.S.R. Ex, as with most things in this kind of trip, you have to go with the best that you can afford. I bought this stove last year; it is the latest in their line of multi-fuel stoves. These stoves are a delight in their simplicity, as you hardly need any tools to strip them down (my titanium spoon is made by the same people, and has all the spanner heads needed to undo all the nuts as part of the handle). The stove runs on just about any liquid fuel that you can get your hands on, but white gas (naptha) is best. Also, I will be taking along my old M.S.R. Wisperlite stove, as a spare if the Ex gets damaged beyond repair.
Sorry about not putting a picture of the sleeping bag on the last post, but I up-loaded it to the server, but for some reason it never made it to the site.
Things are really getting a little bit bonkers at the moment! There is so much going on. Had a reply from one of my begging e-mails this week, Furtec ( http://www.furtech.co.uk ) have very generously agreed to give me one of their Claw jackets to use on the crossing.
Spoke to Charlie Patton, and he will be coming down to meet us in a couple of weeks, so will be able to sort out the final kit list, and training programme.
This weeks bit of kit is the stove. The M.S.R. Ex, as with most things in this kind of trip, you have to go with the best that you can afford. I bought this stove last year; it is the latest in their line of multi-fuel stoves. These stoves are a delight in their simplicity, as you hardly need any tools to strip them down (my titanium spoon is made by the same people, and has all the spanner heads needed to undo all the nuts as part of the handle). The stove runs on just about any liquid fuel that you can get your hands on, but white gas (naptha) is best. Also, I will be taking along my old M.S.R. Wisperlite stove, as a spare if the Ex gets damaged beyond repair.
Sorry about not putting a picture of the sleeping bag on the last post, but I up-loaded it to the server, but for some reason it never made it to the site.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Sleeping bag
Hi,
Thank you to all of you out there, just gone through the 500 subscription mark!
Had some excellent news this weekend, Mr Ben Saunders ( http://www.bensaunders.com/ ) has agreed to be our patron, and will be offering advice and maybe some kit that we might need.
On to this weeks bit of kit: The sleeping bag. After reading through mountains of expedition reports, books and many reviews, I decided on getting the Rab expedition 1100. This is the bag that the British Antarctic Survey use for there deep expeditions into the Antarctic. This bag, although it is fairly heavy, is good for a comfort temperature of -40 which may seem a little over the top, but, I prefer to err on the side of caution. There are a couple of handy features that come with it, two internal pockets for food and another for a bottle in case you get caught short in the middle of the night! If you are wondering about frost forming on the outside of the bag during the night, then it has a Pertex shell that will keep the down filling of the bag dry, also, it has a pertex inner, so no need for a vapour barrier liner.
As this expedition takes off, it is gradually building momentum, can’t wait for our meeting next month with our guide, so that we can establish a proper training programme.
See you soon folks.
Thank you to all of you out there, just gone through the 500 subscription mark!
Had some excellent news this weekend, Mr Ben Saunders ( http://www.bensaunders.com/ ) has agreed to be our patron, and will be offering advice and maybe some kit that we might need.
On to this weeks bit of kit: The sleeping bag. After reading through mountains of expedition reports, books and many reviews, I decided on getting the Rab expedition 1100. This is the bag that the British Antarctic Survey use for there deep expeditions into the Antarctic. This bag, although it is fairly heavy, is good for a comfort temperature of -40 which may seem a little over the top, but, I prefer to err on the side of caution. There are a couple of handy features that come with it, two internal pockets for food and another for a bottle in case you get caught short in the middle of the night! If you are wondering about frost forming on the outside of the bag during the night, then it has a Pertex shell that will keep the down filling of the bag dry, also, it has a pertex inner, so no need for a vapour barrier liner.
As this expedition takes off, it is gradually building momentum, can’t wait for our meeting next month with our guide, so that we can establish a proper training programme.
See you soon folks.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Hi folks,
Sorry I haven’t posted for a while, been having problems with my Internet connection.
Had a couple of interesting e-mails over the last week, one from Judy, this is a very extraordinary Lady, she’s going on the trip of a lifetime, you can read more about her trip here: http://www.alpinechallenge.info/ and I am trying Judy.
Anyway, back to my little journey, fired of a few more sponsorship e-mails this week, trying to update some of my kit, jacket, boots, down trousers etc.
Back to the training, just pottering around really at the moment, until we get a proper schedule, I’ll just do what I think will benefit me. Still cycling, running and need to get myself into pulling those tyres!
Food, a friend of mine at work, (Hi Roz) has told me about a great web site that has just about every type of diet supplements that you can think of, so if any of you are seriously into any kind of sport please go have a look. http://www.myprotein.co.uk/ I will be using the powdered oats and the flapjack through out any of my excursions in to the outdoors from now on.
Some people have been asking about the kit that will be used on the trip, well I’ll try to go through my stuff one piece every week. This week the tent:
The one that I have decided to take along is the Mountain Hardware E.V.2. Above is a picture of the tent, before I have had it customized. When I get it back from Antarctica tents http://www.antarcticatents.co.uk/ it will have snow flaps fitted, for holding the tent down in high winds, and also a trapdoor put into the groundsheet, for when we need to use the stove inside the tent, (a very hairy experience with liquid fuel stoves the first time that you do it!). Mountain Hardware tents, are purposely designed for the type of journey that we will be doing, and are absolutely bomb proof. I spent months reading reviews and looking around before I made this selection.
That’s about it for this time folks; hope that you found this entry worth reading.
Sorry I haven’t posted for a while, been having problems with my Internet connection.
Had a couple of interesting e-mails over the last week, one from Judy, this is a very extraordinary Lady, she’s going on the trip of a lifetime, you can read more about her trip here: http://www.alpinechallenge.info/ and I am trying Judy.
Anyway, back to my little journey, fired of a few more sponsorship e-mails this week, trying to update some of my kit, jacket, boots, down trousers etc.
Back to the training, just pottering around really at the moment, until we get a proper schedule, I’ll just do what I think will benefit me. Still cycling, running and need to get myself into pulling those tyres!
Food, a friend of mine at work, (Hi Roz) has told me about a great web site that has just about every type of diet supplements that you can think of, so if any of you are seriously into any kind of sport please go have a look. http://www.myprotein.co.uk/ I will be using the powdered oats and the flapjack through out any of my excursions in to the outdoors from now on.
Some people have been asking about the kit that will be used on the trip, well I’ll try to go through my stuff one piece every week. This week the tent:
The one that I have decided to take along is the Mountain Hardware E.V.2. Above is a picture of the tent, before I have had it customized. When I get it back from Antarctica tents http://www.antarcticatents.co.uk/ it will have snow flaps fitted, for holding the tent down in high winds, and also a trapdoor put into the groundsheet, for when we need to use the stove inside the tent, (a very hairy experience with liquid fuel stoves the first time that you do it!). Mountain Hardware tents, are purposely designed for the type of journey that we will be doing, and are absolutely bomb proof. I spent months reading reviews and looking around before I made this selection.
That’s about it for this time folks; hope that you found this entry worth reading.
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