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26.12.09
Christmas Special
Where were you as the clock struck midnight on Christas Eve? Frantically wrapping presents? Singing your heart out at Midnight Mass? Sound asleep in your bed awaiting Santa's arrival? Or how about having seven girls singing "We wish you a Merry Christmas!" down a satellite phone from a tent in Antarctica?
Not only do we have a brief rendition of that particular Christmas Carol today courtesy of Felicity and the team, but we also have Guest Blogs from Guy Risdon (First Aid Trainer), some new profile pics from Expedition Photographer Robert Hollingworth and a couple of the cooler bits of press coverage the team have had.
Happy Christmas! - Tim (UK Support)
PodCast from Felicity and the Team:
Link to Podcast
Felicity's PodCast in writing:
"We wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New year!
Steph, Reena, Kylie, Helen, Sophia and Felicity from the Kaspersky Lab Commonwealth Antarctica Expedition would like to wish all our our friends and family back home as well as everyone following us on the website and of course the Kaspersky Lab team as well. A very, very Merry Christmas!
We had an absolutely brilliant Christmas Day. It started of with phone calls home to all our families which was fantastic to speak to our loved ones after two months of not knowing what's going on back at home. And then our Christmas present from Santa was a beautiful sunny calm day.
There was not a breath of wind today and so we had a lovely, lovely Antarctic day. We got on our skis and we really stormed today. We covered 15.6 nautical miles which is a really good day for us and then this evening we put the tents up and and got together in one of the tents to have a Christmas meal of freeze dried Chicken Tikka Massala for our Christmas meal.
We've been surprised by Helen who has made a wonderful Christmas tree with a little stocking for each of us, an absolutely lovely touch. So we've had a lovely day but of course we're thinking of everybody back home so whether you're eating Christmas turkey or Christmas rice or Christmas baklava, whatever you're eating, have a lovely lovely day."
The Night Before Christmas - Guest Blog from Guy Risdon
Twas the night before Christmas when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. The stocking were hung by the chimney with care, In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there....... I finished reading this to my three year old daughter, kissed her goodnight and came downstairs to my warm sitting room, popped the kettle on picked up the laptop and started to think.....
A long way from home, 800 miles into a team and personal journey, 8 women will be going through the same daily routine for the 33rd time. Place 1 ski in front of the other and repeat, pitch tent, eat food from a foil sachet, tend to sore feet, aching muscles and prepare physically and mentally for the next day of the same again....
It seems a world away from most of us, especially at this time of year when most of us are tucked up at home with the family. Yet in a strange way the girls are tucked up with family. A family born of common goal, to succeed and reach the pole on time in good health, a goal that has been shared by others over the centuries and one which will be shared by many more to come in the future.
As you rest your head on your feather pillow tonight, listen carefully and not only will you hear St Nick approaching from the North, you may be able to hear Felicity.....
As she sprang to her pulk, her team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down from a thistle,
I heard her exclaim as she skied out of site,
Merry Christmas to all, the South Pole is in sight.
[Guy runs Adventure First Aid and provided the team with the necessary training and supplies before departing on their expedition.]
Solar Halos - Guest Blog from Jim Mayer
Jim was a member of the team that trained the Kaspersky ladies. Along with his wife, Sarah, he runs arctic holiday company: The Polar People. He's kindly given us some more information about Solar Halos following Felicity's recent PodCast on the subject.
The Solar Halo that Felicity mentioned in yesterday's pod cast are caused by the refraction of the sun's light through ice crystals (or snow) in the sky. This refraction doesn't work with all types of falling snow, only snow that is formed at certain temperatures. Ice crystals that are created at between -20 and -25 degrees C form as hexagonal prisms.
It's these prisms that refract the light and produce a ring or halo around the sun. If they fall the prisms are orientated horizontally then not only will you see a halo, but Sun Dogs too. These appear as extra bright spots on the ring of the halo, aligned horizontally with the sun. Often they are called "mock suns" or Perihelia.
Cheers! Jim
BBC World Service and the Sunday Times
Here is an interview that Felicity (UK, Team Leader) conducted with the BBC World Service from her tent earlier in the month:
Link to BBC World Service Interview
And here is a link to a piece that was run in The Sunday Times Magazine:
- Sunday Times article
New Profile Photos from Robert Hollingworth
Rob followed the team down to Antarctica and is responsible for all the wonderful images you see on this website - see more of his work and book him here.
Last but not least, a couple of people have asked where to find the blog post I wrote about how the team are updating the website from Antarctica. Well, here it is!
Photos by Robert Hollingworth