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Expedition cargo being loaded into C-130 in Santiago airport 18 Oct 99

It is confirmed that the South Pole Team will not be leaving Punta Arenas (Chile) for Patriot Hills (Antarctica) on October 27, 1999. This delay is caused by bad weather which in turn is causing the flight delay into Patriot Hills. Currently, the scheduled departure is October 29, 1999, this however, could change if the weather does not improve. The delay in getting into Antarctica has therefore eaten into the 65 days trek plan. (The delay buffer time in the pole trek plan is 10 days). Currently, it is still too early to say if the 2 days delay would have any impact on the overall objective time line of Jan 1, 2000. However, should the delay time be further increased due to bad weather or any other reasons, the team plans to mitigate the delay with shorter rest days. This has been done before in other expeditions and is one of the contingent plans for delay. As of now, no decision has been taken, pending further situational analysis.

While the delay has caused some anxiety amongst the team members, the overall morale and team spirit is very high. The team spend a great deal of the daily acitivities at Punta Arena checking their individual sled, getting used to their respective sledding systems, testing all communications equipment between the field, ANI and Singapore as well as fine tuning the emergency evacuation plans. All these activities help the team members to grow even closer to each other even as they realise their individual vulnerabilities yet share the common goal of accomplishing the objectives.

Currently, their sleds weigh between 90 kg - 100 kg; an increase of 10 kg. from additional food. In addition to food items such as margarine which the team purchased at Punta Arenas, 2 of the team members also purchased their ski poles at Punta Arenas. Every team member is aware of the need for them to reduce the weight of the sled; some possibilities include sharing of the pee bottle. However, no action has been taken pending their arrival at Patriot Hill and the commencement of the trek.
 

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