Day One: 11 miles travelled, 704 miles remaining
Well, not here! My route to the South Pole is uphill the entire way. Starting at Hercules Inlet, climbing 500 metres sharply before levelling out a little and then a slightly more gentle climb all the way from there.
Today was brutal. The 20-25 knots wind blasted at me all day long, relentlessly. The steep climb out of Hercules Inlet made for an even tougher start, with no coming back down and with my sled is at its heaviest it will be for the trip. The sun occasionally popped up to say hello, but with a sky this vast I could see the weather fronts rolling towards me from the distance.
I tried to get some speedy skiing in when I could and jumped at the chance for a few minutes of warmth, with less wind buffeting against me. After every minute of warmth, the clouds quickly became angry and rolled towards me again with some speed. The Cold Avenger mask worked a dream today.
I haven’t been eating enough, as I truly hate stopping, especially in high winds, but I’m sure I’ll get in to a routine and become better at factoring in breaks. Towards the end of the day, I was wondering why my chin felt a little heavy… I realised there was a huge icicle hanging off the top of my jacket! Snapped it off of course, as weight is everything in these conditions.
It was a tough start to the expedition, but the only way is up – figuratively and physically! I will have to get used to sleeping with the noise these high winds make. The weather forecast is same again tomorrow but hopefully after that some blue skies will be coming my way.
I’m now in my tent, tired and ready for sleep. I still can’t believe where I am and what I’m doing. I had no music on today so I could be a little more aware and get use to routines, so I spent a lot of time daydreaming about Matt, our dog Bexar, and friends and family pushing me on from afar. It all means so much.
I swear I saw a heron, heard a dog barking today and, once again, Antarctica smelled like Lenor to me! You start seeing and hearing some weird things out here.
Thank you to DHL and Atkins for helping support my Solo to the South Pole expedition.
To help Jenny raise funds for Children in Need, click here or text ‘SPJD99 £3’ to 70070 to contribute £3.
Comment below for the chance to have Jenny answer your questions during her solo expedition to the South Pole.
We’re all thinking about you !
Watching your progress on the tracker is surreal….you’re so far away but so close in my heart xx
It sounds so alien to anything most of us ever experience, truly the last wilderness . I’m sure in our overloaded lives bombarded as we are with aural and visual stimuli the concept of being entirely alone for so long is daunting.
Very much looking forward to reading your updates.
Girl! So proud and in crazy awe! Keep pressing forward and we will get you to SoCal to defrost after :D… get’er done! xoxoxo
All at St John’s are proud of everything you are doing. Your resilience and determination is amazing and you are an inspiration to all our pupils, especially the girls!!!
The question box has been filling up and we have two for you –
Do you feel the cold even when you are wrapped up in all your special clothing? Ellis
What are you eating and how do you cook it?? William
We all wish you well, you are a very special person who is already inspiring our children to ask more questions about the world and their place in it.
Keep strong!
Mr Howarth