Training

The first job I did in the morning was to go to CO-OP and buy bullets for rifle. It is a rifle used to protect ourselves against polar bears. Even if we encounter bears we won't shoot them; we first fire warning shots up to the sky or down to the ground. Only when it doesn't work and the bears attack, we have no choice but to shoot them for self defense.

Today is the sixth day since we arrived here on the 16th. And for the first time we had the wind blowing here in Resolute Bay. But it was not just the wind, it was a blizzard. The three expedition members (Ohba, Stepan, and Håvard) tested ski sailing (it's like parachuting utilizing wind power to move forward) with their sleds.

Ohba is a veteran as he ski sailed across Antarctica and Greenland before. At the end of last year Stepan and Håvard trained ski sailing for two weeks in Norway, so they looked no problem handling the ski sails.

At this time of the year, the sun stays low and moves along just above the horizon (I am not sure where the border between land and sea lies, as it is all white). We conducted tests in dim light. I accompanied them because I wanted to feel how severe the environment the expedition members will be facing and it also helps me imagine their situation in an emergency case. So this is also my training as a base camp manager.

It seems the temperature on a snowstorm day won't go much low; today was -25 degrees Celsius. However the effective temperature was much lower because of the wind. I was wearing a down jacket with a hood and covering my eyes with snow goggles, but the wind hit my cheeks. I was standing there only for two hours, but my left cheek which was constantly exposed to the cold wind got slightly frostbitten. It wasn't really a long time, but the feeling of the wind hitting my face can't be described by just coldness or chilliness, it was really hurting. Pain is the right word for it.

Ward Hunt Island where our expedition starts is located further up north. There are no trees, no place to hide, and only place you can relax is inside the tent you set up in the evening.

Håvard (28 years old from Noway) The snow stuck on his eyelashes; On his beard was his frozen breath. He is good at sewing and currently fixing clothes and equipment to prepare for the upcoming expedition.