WOMENQUEST - Polar Trek 2001

Click here to visit the Ottawa Citizen, where reporter and Polar Trek member Alison Korn files her dispatches on the team's progress.

NASA WEB SITE - Click here to visit the special NASA "Coolspace" website on the North Pole and click here for a full roster of current NASA Webcasts

POLAR TREK DAILY UPDATEs - Days I - VI

04-21-01 - TREK DAY VI - If yesterday's headline was "Close Call," today's is "Back on Track." Though understandably tired from the day's exertions, team leader Sue Carter sounded energized to report that they are only 21 miles from the North Pole, at latitude 89 degrees, 47 North and longitude 98 degrees, 00 minutes East. "We made excellent progress today and are truly optimistic about making it to the Pole," said Sue.

Biggest surprise of the day was the arrival of unexpected visitors. "We were on a march when I heard the thwocka-thwocka-thwocka of an approaching helicopter and my heart sank," said Sue. "My first thought was that this was a rescue mission come to get us because the Russians mistakenly thought we were in trouble."

The arrangement with the Russian helicopter pilots at Ice Station Borneo was that they would try to find the team if they had not heard from them by the end of day five of their trek. "We didn't get through to them until the end of the fifth day, because the only way we can communicate is through shortwave and the sunspots have been acting up and making it hard to get a connection," said Sue. "So I was afraid that something had gone wrong and they didn't understand our message and thought we needed to be evacuated." That kind of miscue would not only be unfortunate but expensive, since each unscheduled helicopter trip costs roughly $5,000 (ouch!).

But instead of a rescue mission, it was a whirlwind touchdown from Russian pilots Anatoly and Igor, who are somewhat scruffy for guardian angels but who are the team's protectors nonetheless. The duo wanted to congratulate them on their progress and gift them with a bottle of vodka. "They were helicoptering a team of six Brits to the Pole for a one-day visit and talked them into a side trip to wish us well," said Sue. "The Russians told us how proud they are of what we are doing. The Brits seemed stunned to find women doing this on skis and hung out the window taking pictures of us."

The team had put in a hard day, fueled by a breakfast of granola with the ever-present Russian sucara toast with peanut butter, butter and honey. Snacks, as always, were smoked bacon and pound cake. "They are great, but I must admit that I am getting a little tired of them," said Sue. She was calling in her update from a tent she was sharing with fellow trekker and reporter Alison Korn of the Ottawa Citizen, after the team had finished its chili dinner.

"The others are getting a bit tired of us (Sue and Alison) keeping them up with our telephone calls - or, as Alison says, when we are 'plying our trade,'" said Sue. "So we set up a separate tent tonight so that we could make our calls without disturbing them." The tent is warmed by a Russian stove and Sue would periodically take a moment to check on the flame to make sure it wasn't touching anything in the tent. Once the trekkers bed down for the night, they turn the tent stoves off and rely on their sleeping bags for warmth.

"The continuous sunlight is something that we have adjusted to, but it still complicates sleeping," she said.

NASA WEBCAST UPDATE: The current plan is for the plane carrying NASA officials Dr. Kathryn Clark and 'NASA Mike" Comberiate, along with a reporter from ABC-TV to look for a suitable landing spot as near as possible to the North Pole. While they are landing the plane, the 12 women of Polar Trek 2001 will be ferried by helicopter to that site, so that they can host the Webcast as near as possible to True North.

The the Webcast is slated to go live between 4 tp 6 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Tuesday April 24. However, final arrangements may literally go down to the wire and there is a chance that the webcast could be delayed by a day (or two) because of weather, so check back often for updates.

We invite you to visit the NASA website at http://coolspace.gsfc.nasa.gov/northpole2001/ to download a nifty item that will allow you to view the Webcast from your desktop if you are on a Windows machine. NASA Webmaster David Beverly has put together a stunning site to host the Webcast, with all sorts of great features. Don't miss it!

04-20-01 EST - TREK DAY V - (NOTE TO FAMILY AND FRIENDS - Despite the problems detailed below, all is well, so read on knowing that everyone is safe and warm tonight) - (latitude 89 degrees, 39 minutes North; 104 degrees, 51 minutes East) - Today the team had its first real scare, when trekker Susan Martin suffered hypothermia, a potentially fatal chilling of the body.

"It was surprising to see how quickly a person begins to degrade," said team leader Sue Carter. "This could have happened to any of us and it serves as a reminder that we all have to be alert about how each person on the team is doing."

The 12 women of Polar Trek 2001 had stopped for a brief break after a march. Normally, they put on their down parkas on top of their thermal underwear and windbreakers, recognizing that your core body temperature begins to decline rapidly once you stop generating body heat from skiing. This time, they simply forgot, said Sue.

Not long afterward, experienced Arctic guide Josée Auclair saw that Susan looked sluggish - a clear sign of trouble. She signalled the rest of the team to stop and help check on her. When it was clear that Susan was becoming delirious, the team sprang into action, covering her and erecting the tent quickly. "In less than 20 minutes, we had her inside and we warmed her for an hour," said Sue. "She's doing fine right now, sitting in front of me eating her dinner."

When the normally unflappable Sue labelled the day "challenging," those who know her immediately can upgrade that to "daunting." The team was frustrated because of the numerous leads they encountered. Leads are those dangerous patches of open water that the team has to circumvent or cross in places where the later of surface ice can hold them. Echoing everyone's growing concern about global warming, Josée said that they are seeing far more leads and pressure ridges this year than she has ever seen before.

"The numerous leads we encountered today forced us to keep skiing west. The ice itself is drifting west, so it can be frustrating not to make more progress toward your goal," said Sue. They now have 21 miles to go in the succeeding four days, which will require some hard skiing, but it remains an achievable goal.

The team cannot send us images but this is probably close to what they saw when the seal surfaced.

For the first time, the team saw wildlife - a seal 40 to 50 yards out surfaced in a lead. "That's one of the questions we get from students," said trekker Lynn Bartley, who had called Dansville High School that morning.

Lynn Bartley, Susan Martin and Kerri Finlayson have been making the bulk of the calls to Michigan schools. Among the typical questions: Would you ever want to do this again? Will it make you job teaching school seem easy after this? Were there any surprises? What kinds of animals do you see? And what is the hardest thing you've done?

Breakfast today again was oatmeal with toast smothered in peanut butter, butter and honey, with coffee or tea. Sue again put those slabs of bacon in her pocket to keep them warm as snacks on the trail. Snacks also included a pistachio-laden divinity fudge, along with the fruit and nut-packed pound cake and hot cider in a thermos.

Dinner at night starts with a Malakhov cocktail, named for Canadian Arctic Adventures guide and whip-crack trainer Misha Malakhov who helped prep them for their trip. It consists of cold powdered milk, maple syrup and Crown Royal. Dinner was liver paté and bleu cheese on crackers with sausage, as well as a jambalaya on rice, with chocolate for dessert and mint tea.

"The wind has picked up. We are going to sack out soon so that we can ski hard tomorrow," said Sue in closing.

NEW! Click here for a schedule of NASA Webcasts

04-19-01 EST - TREK DAY IV - (latitude 89 degrees, 33 minutes North; longitude 113 degrees, 06 minutes East) - Zigzagging around leads - those treacherous rifts in the ice - means that the team did not make sustained forward progress toward their goal of reaching the North Pole, but team leader Sue Carter still called it "our best day so far." At this, the mid-point of the trek, the team feels quite optimistic.

Leads remain the big issue. Sue said that it was amazing to watch a lead dissapear, as two ice plates slid back together. "There was this rhytmic sound, almost a moaning, as the lead closed," she said. "It was wild."

Experienced Arctic trekker Josée Auclair guided the team across a major lead today. "It held us with no problem, but you sure wouldn't want to dance a jig out there," said Sue.

"A lead isn't just open water - there is always some skim ice on top," said Sue. "A lead seems more like a river than an opening in the ice."

The strategy is to travel alongside the lead until you find a place where the ice is thick enough or the distance short enough that it is safe to cross. "There is a tactic where you can throw snow on the water and it can freeze solid enough for a minute or so that you can get across, but we aren't skilled enough for that," said Sue.

The goal is to make sure that no one ends up in the icy water. As Alison Korn reported in her recent dispatch in the Ottawa Citizen, trekker Jen Buck summed up the wisest approach when she said, "It's better to spend a long say skiing than a short day swimming."

They have not seen any wildlife - no seals and (thankfully) no polar bears. But they did come across ski tracks from another group of trekkers ahead of them. (And there are a couple teams behind them.)

Back in 1989, when Joe McGinniss wrote Going to Extremes about the lure of the wilderness in Alaska, he talked about the special feeling of entering the Brooks Range knowing that yours might be the only human foot ever to stand on that particular patch of earth. Yet even within a decade, the combination of population increase (almost 800 million more people in the world in the last decade) and increasing affluence (allowing more people to travel to remote regions) means that even a trip to the North Pole today does not necessarily guarantee total isolation.

Breakfast today was hearty - a kind of melba toast with peanut butter and honey, as well as eggs mixed with bacon, mushrooms and tomatoes. "The goal is to eat fats early on in the day and protein later," said Sue. "I carry a couple hunks of bacon in my pocket to keep them warm and eat them during the first part of the day." Later, Sue ate pound cake filled with dried fruit and nuts, supplemented during the day with snacks of more dried fruit and nuts, beef jerky and chocolate. Dinner was slices of salami, bleu cheese, sesame crackers and rigatoni pasta, washed down with mint tea that Sue was still sipping when she called on the satphone.

We urge you to check back often to find out more about the NASA webcast. It has been daunting to make flight arrangements to the area, and 'NASA Mike' Comberiate leaves tomorrow (Friday) to travel to the region to finalize arrangements for the Internet broadcast. "We are shooting for 2100 hours Zulu (Greenwich Mean Time)," he said. "But we are not sure yet whether the Webcast will take place at the Pole itself or when the women return to Ice Station Borneo." Stay tuned . . ..

NASA PHOTOS: Thanks to the great folks at NASA for gathering these amazing satellites images of the Arctic ice the women of Polar Trek 2001 are traversing on their quest to reach the North Pole. Click on the links below (please be patient if you have a slower modem and use your back button at the top of your browser to return to this page);

WEATHER FORECAST

Prepared 1600 UTC, 19 April 2001

At 19/1200 UTC, High pressure centered near 78N 165W extends into northern Europe and Alaska north coast. As high pressure strengthens, pressure gradient increasing over trek area, with stronger winds.

High pressure dominating weather immediately over trek area next 24 hours with moderate E to ESE winds to 10-15 knots. Partly to mostly cloudy sky conditions. Periods of light snow and/or drifting snow. Low clouds and fog near open leads. Daily temperature range -25 to -35C, maximum to minimum.

Next forecast at 1600 UTC, 20 April.

Wayne Winston
NOAA/NESDIS
This forecast provided as a courtesy of the author and is not an official issuance or forecast of NOAA.

"X" marks the spot where the Polar Trek 2001 team women were when this satellite image was taken. Note the number of "leads" opening up as spring comes to the Arctic (click on the image for a larger view) - Photo courtesy of NASA

04-18-01 EST - TREK DAY III - The 12 women of Polar Trek 2001 crossed two major "leads" today, in their quest to reach True North by April 24. Leads, those treacherous rifts of open water in the ice that erupt this time of year, require skiing alongside until there is a place where you can cross safely. "We look to Josée in these situations and she quickly found appropriate crossing points," said team leader Sue Carter. In the background, Kathy Braegger could be heard saying, "I didn't even need to unpack my rubber raft."

The team has now traveled 20 miles, ending their day at 89 degrees, 28 minutes North latitude, 118 degrees, 19 minutes East longitude. "We basically ski in the direction of north by northeast, to make up for the westerly drift of the ice," said Sue. "We feel good knowing that we can achieve our goal by covering 32 miles over the next six days. Today we felt a real sense of progress, even with our demanding communication schedule." The team continues to call middle schools in Michigan so that youngsters have a chance to ask them questions about the trek.

The team traversed a couple pressure ridges as high as a house. That requires shucking their skis and sleds, to establish a "bucket brigade." The women forge a human chain to haul gear up one side and down the other.

"In this environment, it is crucial to bond together as a team," said Sue. "Being on the trek is not an abrupt change from our training at Ice Station Borneo, but it requires even more endurance."

She put reporter and fellow trekker Alison Korn on the satphone (see the link at the left that will take you to her update). Alison, an Olympic-caliber rower, said that she has had to learn to scale back on the impulse to ski, ski, ski. "I am very task oriented and would want to keep skiing until I drop," she said. "The team reminds me that I need to take the time to appreciate the experience, with the other women and in this remarkable environment."

Sue said that she now understands why the native people in the Arctic region are famous for having so many different words for "snow." "I have seen so many variations," she said. "We have skiied on fine, dry powder. Then there is shear ice. Some was even like skiing through lemon merinque."

"The biggest surprise is how noisy it is here," said Sue. "The ice squeaks. In fact, it sometimes goes through the whole chromatic scale - do, ra, mi, fa, so, la, si do."

Without the cameraderie of other adventurers as Ice Station Borneo, team members say that they are even more aware of the "bubble" in which they send information out but little comes back in. "One of our group has a brother in Morocco who says that he can keep track of us through the Web sites, but I don't even know if the (Detroit) Tigers are winning," said Sue.

NASA UPDATE: We invite you to visit the new webspace created by NASA http://coolspace.gsfc.nasa.gov/northpole2001/, where additional images are available. (Windows users can also download and install a cool Inuit font to see what the page would look like in Inuit.)

Special thanks to Senator Debbie Stabenow of Michigan (click here to visit her website) for connecting the Polar Trek 2001 to NASA. We hope that the senator can participate in the Webcast from the North Pole.

WEATHER REPORT: Prepared 1600 UTC, 18 April 2001

At 17/1200 UTC, High pressure centered near 87N 155W extends into northern Europe and Alaska north coast. Weakening low pressure continues along Russian Arctic coast, along 75N, drifting slowly West.

High pressure dominating weather immediately over trek area next 24 hours with light Easterly winds. Partly cloudy sky conditions, with fog and/or low clouds vicinity open leads. Daily temperature range -25 to -40C, maximum to minimum.

Next forecast at 1600 UTC, 19 April.

Wayne Winston
NOAA/NESDIS

This forecast provided as a courtesy of the author and is not an official issuance or forecast of NOAA.

04-17-01 EST - TREK DAY II - A voicemail message from team leader Sue Carter confirms that the 12 women of Polar Trek 2001 continue to make progress toward their goal. At the end of four marches, the team was 6-1/2 miles closer to True North, at 89 degrees, 20 minutes North latitude, 117 degrees, 24 minutes East longitude. "We're doing well," said Sue. "We are now 11 miles closer to the North Pole despite the westerly drift of the ice. Weather is good but the wind has picked up a bit."

The team came upon its first lead, those patches of open water that can complicate making a straight beeline to their goal. Team leader Sue Carter continues to confer daily with 'NASA Mike' Comberiate, who provides updates on leads based on satellites imagery.

"We want to ask our participating schools to understand the need to be flexible on the timing of our phone calls," said Sue. The team uses the satellite telephones provided by the U.S. Navy to make conference calls back to schoolrooms in Michigan that are using the online curriculum. But the priority has to be on making progress toward their goal, so there may be times that phone calls must be delayed until they can reach a point where making the call becomes more easily accomplished.

Now that the official trek has begun, research moves to the top of the agenda. The team collected air samples to chart levels of nitrous oxide, one of the important greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming, part of a research effort done in collaboration with researchers at Michigan State University.

Team members also provided urine samples for an initiative with Sparrow Hospital in Lansing. Medical researchers will use those samples to explore issues of bone demineralization and bone restoration in women under extreme exercise conditions. Osteoporosis is the condition that leads to life-threatening fractures in women, and the study of the women on the team can be compared to findings about bone loss among women in space, where the lack of gravity adds to the problem.

"This is an important part of the WomenQuest mission," said Sue. "We would invite anyone who wants to contribute to our work to consider making a donation." WomenQuest considers events like Polar Trek 2001 as unique opportunities to learn more about the world and about how women adapt to it. The foundation's research component is designed to complement the educational outreach to young people, which focuses on educating youngsters, especially girls and young women, about the importance of gaining skills in math and science that play such a crucial role in promoting women's health and the health of the planet.

04-16-01 EST- TREK DAY I - The trek has officially begun! The 12 women of Polar Trek 2

001 landed at their dropoff coordinates (latitude: 89 degrees, 10 minutes North; 110 degrees, 00 minutes East) at roughly 2 p.m. their time (12 hours ahead). After some food, they headed out and did six "marches," but the first two were headed in the wrong direction. "We were like 'Wrong Way' Corrigan," said Polar Trek leader Sue Carter, whose hearty laugh suggests the diversion did not cause any real problem. They did make progress despite the glictch and are now four miles closer to their goal, ending the day at latitude: 89 degrees, 14 minutes North; 118 degrees, 28 minutes East. They are still on target to reach the North Pole/True North on Tuesday, April 24.

Click here for reporter and Polar Trek member Alison Korn's most recent dispatch in the Ottawa Citizen called: "We Can't Wait To Prove the Skeptics Wrong."

The team did encounter some small "leads" - rifts in the ice where there is open water. Next call from Sue was to be to 'NASA Mike' Comberiate who provides them updated weather and ice information:

LATEST ICE UPDATE: Looking at the DMSP image we just received from the National Naval Ice Center, they should stay to the North and West as they approach the Pole, to avoid being blocked from the Pole by the long lead shown in their vicinity.

WEATHER FORECAST prepared 1600 UTC, 16 April 2001:
At 16/1200 UTC, High pressure centered near 85N 160W extends into Russian Arctic and Alaska north coast. Complex low pressure along Russian Arctic coast, along 75N, drifting slowly West. High pressure dominating weather immediately over trek area next 24 hours with light Easterly winds. Mostly clear to partly cloudy sky conditions. Fog and/or low clouds vicinity open leads.

Daily temperature range -25 to -40C, maximum to minimum. Strong pressure gradient south of trek area over Russian Arctic. Expect strong winds, blowing snow, poor visibility south of trek area to Russian coast.

Next forecast at 1600 UTC, 17 April.

Wayne Winston
NOAA/NESDIS
This information is provided as a courtesy of the author and is not an official issuance or forecast from NOAA

Their first day on the official trek to the North Pole allowed the team to put their gear to the test. Sue said that she has been quite impressed with her Isis hat and undies. The Dana Design backpacks have been ideal. Their Polartec gear is, as expected, perfect for the conditions. Thanks also to the fine performance of TurtleFur and Smartwool. Their Dermatone Sunblock is a must in these conditions of extreme cold and unrelenting sun.

CURRICULUM REMINDER - We want to take this opportunity to remind you about our online curriculum. The spirit of WomenQuest is to inspire young people, particularly girls and young women, that you can achieve even the most ambitious goals in life, through discipline and also through teamwork. Polar Trek 2001 is not about individul achievement and setting personal speed or endurance records. It instead stands as a testament to the ability of women from different backgrounds and varying talents to work together toward a common goal.

Polar Trek 2001 team-member educators Sue Carter, Phyllis Grummon, Kerri Finlayson and Susan Martin, along with Webmaster Bonnie Bucqueroux, have put together a remarkable curriculum (click here) for Michigan middle schoolers. The online classes have been produced to comply with Michigan Educational Standards (and they are also designed to be valuable to instructors and home schoolers nationwide).

The curriculum is divided into sections on Exploration, Environmental Science & Math, Geography and People & Culture. If you visit the Exploration section, you will find a section by Phyllis Grummon on planning and teamwork. You can also calculate your own Body Mass Index online, learn about the extensive training the Polar Trek leader Sue Carter has put in to ready herself for the trip and take the Arctic Survival Exercise to find out how well you would do compared to the experts in ranking items in terms of their ability to keep you alive in such harsh condictions.

CLICK HERE FOR THE UPDATES ON THE FINAL DAYS OF THE TREK

We have archived the log of the days in Russian prior to the beinning of the trek. CLICK HERE FOR THOSE DAILY UPDATES.

To learn more about the trekkers and their experiences, click here for a list of links to reporter Alison Korn's first-person stories for the Ottawa Citizen.