South Pole trekkers on the hot, cold grind

updated 11:02 a.m. ET Dec. 2, 2009

Editor's note: Eric Larsen is attempting to be the first person to trek to the South Pole, North Pole and Mount Everest in one year. Msnbc.com will be posting select entries from Eric's posts while on the ice. Bookmark this page to track his progress.

Dec. 2 (Day 16): Living in cold
You know that feeling you get right after a vacation, the morning you have to go back to work? That's not too unlike how we felt getting out of the tent today. Back to our task of skiing to the pole.

We are choosing to be here, of course, but when the wind is howling, your hands are numb with cold and you are physically exhausted, it feels kind of (a wee tiny bit) like a job.

'Damn cold,' was how Dongsheng described the weather during one of our short rest breaks.

'The conditions were constantly changing,' Bill observed later. 'The wind really picked up for a while.

Despite the intense cold and windchill, we wear surprisingly little. For my part, I wear only two Terramar base layers (helix and tx2). Bill and Dong wear the geofleece. Then, it's our Sierra Designs anoraks. At breaks, we don our big SD down parkas. The trick during the day is to keep your body protected from the wind, warm but not too hot that we start sweating. Therefore, we are constantly adjusting. Taking off our big mitts, putting them back on. Unzipping our anoraks. Zipping them back up. Pulling our hoods down... You get the picture?

With diligence, we can regulate our body temperatures fairly well. However, there are still times when we are 'damn cold' and even 'damn hot' every day.

Dec. 1: Home
'Home is where you stake it!' I have a friend who gave me a card with that phrase written on it. Whenever I move, its usually of the first decorations I put out.

Here that phrase couldn't be more true. Each day we pack up our little home, ski for eight hours and then pull our home out of my sled and set it up.

'It's amazing how we can feel so comfortable and secure protected by just two layers of nylon in one of the most unforgiving places on earth,' says Bill.

Today, we spent a little more time in our home because today was our weekly half a day rest. I can't even begin to describe how nice it was to sleep in and relax after a hard week on the trail.

While I'm still nervous to talk about the snow, it continues to be flat. We expect nothing and appreciate any small gift that comes our way. We have noticed, however an increase in the amount of random sastrugi. The shapes and shadows are a welcome distraction in this solitary landscape.

Nov. 30: Resupply!
Another Antarctic morning in our unrelenting pursuit of the pole. A little warmer but windier too and we were forced to add an extra layer. We slowly clip into our Granite Gear harnesses and begin to ski. One stride, then another and another. Soon, I am lost in the task of navigating - bring my compass to level, orienting myself to 147 degrees (we are traveling relative to magnetic north), trying to pick out one unique piece of snow in billions of similar drifts and skiing toward it.

Today is bright and sunny, and even though its feels colder, the wind prevents me from overheating. My mind wanders.

Newsvine Discuss Head over to newsvine.com to exchange thoughts with Eric Larsen and his team.

On his theory of relativity Einstein said, 'I thought of that riding my bicycle.' Time and space melding into one. Would he have come to the same conclusion skiing to the pole?

After lunch, we spot a tiny black flag from a mile away. Our first resupply We are excited at the prospect of meeting our first major milestone. 'We are one-quarter the way to the pole,' Bill says. We take picture to commemorate the moment. Looking at the image later in the tent Dongsheng thinks, 'we look like astronauts on the moon.' Then reflecting on what I had written to the team during training he added, 'three small souls.'

This cache represents our tenuous connection to another time and place. It reminds me of a time capsule. Instantly, it is nearly a month ago when we packed our food. Grocery shopping, zip locks, a LOT of chocolate...

'OK,' I'm all repacked,' Dong states. I am startled out of my day dream by his voice.

'Time?' I think. 'Time to ski.'

Copyright 2009 by Save The Poles

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