Day 22 - Fever in the air

Every day here is different. Today we cooked the porridge and ate it, but after that, it was concluded that Mikko's nascent fever kept us at the camp. So let's rest again, even though it wasn't on the agenda for today.

Speaking of rest: when we set out to build this trip a few years ago, we decided that nutrition and sleep would be emphasized in order to stay in skiing condition for fifty days. Our sleeping furniture is:

• 6mm mattress the size of the entire tent floor. This is the equipment we use on our expeditions, which significantly increases tent comfort. The mattress is wrapped inside the tent in a sledge.

• On top of the platform, a thick Ridgerest for each

• On top of this is Sea to Summit's massive Etherlight XT Extreme inflatable platform. Really good thermal insulation and is comfortable to sleep on.

• As a sleeping bag, Marmot's Col.

Personal sleeping pads and sleeping bags are always in the "sleeping system bag". This is a bag the size of a sleeping mat, about 15 cm thick, which is closed on the edges with a zipper and lifted as such to the top of the sledge. As a bonus, on the top, the bag has pockets for things needed during the day, such as thermos bottles and gloves. An extremely convenient construction; in practice, only this, the stove box and the electronics box move to and from the tent. These bags have been around for decades, but they have become common only recently, and we are using them for the first time.

The equipment listed above blocks the cold from the ground and the air. Unfortunately, it doesn't automatically guarantee a good night's sleep due to special conditions. During the same night, the temperature of the tent can change from oppressively hot to quite chilly when the sun turns and the clouds hide the sun. Therefore, we generally sleep with the sleeping bags open and adjust the ventilation at night. Due to the constant light, eye patches have also been necessary. Many people use earplugs because of the flapping of the tent fabrics caused by the wind, but we haven't needed them. A piss bottle is, of course, standard equipment here; you don't go out in the middle of your sleep.

The night's sleep has remained good (considering the nature of the trip), so the original goal has been achieved in that respect.

Today's photo shows Mikko calling the doctor. Our satellite phones have three uses: occasional home calls, nightly ALE check calls, and special cases such as doctor's consultations.