Interview with Stéphan Dubois, Back from Utsteinen

What is a typical day like at Utsteinen?

Paul, the early bird, always wakes up first and turns on the fuel stove in the mess tent around 6 am. Then comes Fons, Base Camp Manager, who honks the horn using a pear attached to a skidoo around 7 am. The "non-military" regime means that everyone is free to get up whenever he wishes to do so. Having said that, everyone is usually up and ready to work on the ridge by 8 - 8 30 am.

Depending on the tasks that need to be done and on the time needed to accomplish these, we generally gather in the mess tent for dinner between 6 and 8 pm. There, we relax and stock up on calories before it is time to go back to our tent for a well-deserved sleep. Lights are turned out around its is 11 pm.

What kind of problems do you face in your day-to-day life?

First problem is the cold, wind and sun. We have to dress to protect ourselves from the wind and the cold, which thereby reduces our mobility and makes us perspire as soon as we move. We also have to protect ourselves from the sun, which beats down on our faces continuously.

Second problem is linked to comfort. Although it is all relative, it is difficult to raise our level of comfort to that which we are used to. The comfort offered by the organisation allows us to live decently but the slenderness of the tents, the toilets, the outside average temperature and the "basic" bathroom do provoke a few discomforts which can alter a little our daily life.

What are your daily meals made up of?

• Breakfast: fresh bread cooked the previous evening (the kitchen has a 21-litre kneading trough), jam, chocolate spread, cheese, cereal, milk, coffee, hot chocolate, yogurt...
• Lunch: Soup is served almost every day, a light warm meal, bread, cheese, ham... Nothing goes to waste. We generally heat up the previous day's leftovers.
• Dinner: Served with a little white or red wine, we are fed a warm balanced meal (noodles, rice, potatoes, mixed vegetables, meat or fish) with, most of the time, some dessert (cake, truffles, fruit salad, tiramisu or something else).

Cereal and fruit bars, chocolate or dried fruit are served between or before meals.

If you were to go back to Antarctica, what would you take that you did not bring with you the first time?

An inhaler ha ha ha! No, but an I-Pod, a portable computer or a small wash bassin, perhaps....