The weather has been terrible for the last 3 days. It was a total whiteout outside. I couldn't see anything. It was as if I had been thrown into a sea of milk. I received a phone call from Noriko-san via Iridium satellite phone, and she told me that a large-scale low pressure had come and it would stay until next Sunday.

Setting everything in place just before depature

Nagatani-kun and I dragged the heavy sleds, pausing for a break every 30 meters, and slowly advancing toward the north. We took 10-minuite breaks every 50 minutes.

Nagatani taking a rest

We placed mattresses on the snow and had lunch with our backs against the sleds which acted as shields against wind. We ate chocolate-based energy bars produced by Ms. Yuko Araki of Seitoku Junior College of Nutrition and drank tea using hot water from Thermos. We finished up the lunch in 15 minutes, took a 20-minute break, and resumed our journey immediately.

As the sun did not come out, we had to depend on a compass for navigation. Because there was the south wind as well as the west wind, we made a vinyl streamer tied to a ski pole which told us the wind direction. Since it was like walking blindfolded, Nagatani-kun, who was walking behind me, checked the track of my sled and told me the right direction by saying "e;Move left about 15°" or "Move right about 30°." We are crossing our fingers that the weather would get better soon.

Keep on going in whiteout