Day 9 - A false sense of well-being

We started the morning with enthusiasm because outside was the best skiing weather we have seen so far: the sun was shining, and the wind was only 2 m/s. Even the terrain was flat.

So, we put a little less on and excitedly hit the road. The first one and a half legs went well. It should have been known that Antarctica was just playing tricks on us: the wind rose back to "normal" 8 m/s, the snow surface clearly got stickier, and suddenly the sastrugi were huge. It seemed as if the same forestry harvester that in Finland grinds the forest into an unwalkable condition had been here.

We limped the rest of the day in varying but difficult terrain. The day turned out to be a good one. We reached 81 degrees and respected the traditions of the North Pole Expedition; in the evening, we drank “degree booze” in the tent. Fortunately, a friend who likes the good life offered us drinks that won’t freeze and don't weigh much.

Even though we gripe about the wind, it also has its good sides: the wind carves the most wonderful patterns in the snow. One often repeated figure is in the photo of the day: it looks as if someone has carved the terrain full of grooves with a big ice cream scoop.