The Delicious Taste of the Last Drop
All marathon runners know it well: the last few miles of the race are not very difficult however they are the most intense. Seeing that the first summer season is coming to end and the number of team members on-site dwindle to only a handful, we had expected the pace of things to slow down. But the reality was much to the contrary!
The 18th traverse came back on Friday, after having spent three days on the road. During the traverse, the drivers experienced three days of sunshine and hard winds and took in views of colourful sunsets at the coast. However they had a difficult time extracting the last barrels of fuel at the coast from the blocks of snow and ice that had come to encircle them. Thankfully the Prinoth tractors didn't break down once.
Meanwhile, shut-down operations have begun at the base camp. The little tent village has now disappeared and the kitchen, mess and office have been transferred into the future entrance hall of the station for the last few days of the expedition. The mattresses were set up according to the preferences of each occupant, either in the storing annexes or in the rooms where the last work that needs to be done on the station is unlikely to be done. It's now official: the Princess Elisabeth Antarctic station is now occupied, even though the room dividers are still being mounted and the lining layers still undergoing finishing touches.
Over-wintering preparations have already begun. Containers filled with the first elements that will be needed for the start of next season's work have been moved to an ice field unlikely to be buried under the snow. The garages need to be cleared before we can bring in the Prinoths, skidoos and sledges, making us wonder how on earth we were able to clutter the 800 mâ
Picture: Alain Hubert Marks the End of the 1st Phase - Copyright: International Polar Foundation - © International Polar Foundation