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Day 47 December 30, 2008
Strong headwinds blew as they ate their breakfast in silence, knowing that another hard day's toil lay ahead. With wind chill at -40c as they set off, Henry Worsley desribes how he is now carrying Shackleton's compass in his pocket so that he and the team can remind themselves as to why they are doing this great journey. He reflects on the greater hardships that would have been faced by Shackleton and his team 100 years previously.
Today's report has been generously sponsored by Tom Hall.
SITREP
1. Sitrep No 47 as at 0930 hrs GMT 30 Dec 08
2. Distance Covered Today : 15.5 nm
3. Total Distance Covered : 564.7 nm
4. Hours travelled: 8
5. Daily Average to Date: 12.01nm
6. Days to RV on Jan 9 at 97 Mile Point: 10
7. Distance to RV: 129.09 nm
8. Distance to Pole: 226.09 nm
9. Required Daily Average to achieve RV: 12.91 nm
10. Altitude: 8821 Ft ASL
December 30th, 1908
We only did 4 miles 100 yard today. We started at 7 A.M., but had to camp at 11 A.M., a blizzard springing up from the south. It is more than annoying. I cannot express my feelings. We were pulling at last on a level surface, but very soft snow, when at about 10 A.M. the south wind and drift commenced to increase, and at 11 A.M. it was so bad that we had to camp. And here all day we have been lying in our sleeping bags trying to keep warm and listening to the threshing drift on the tent side. I am in the cooking tent, and the wind comes through, it is so thin. Our precious food is going and the time also, and it is so important to us to get on. We lie here and think of how to make things better, but we cannot reduce food now, and the only thing will be to rush all possible at the end. We will do and are doing all humanly possible. It is with Providence to help us.
Day 47 Report
Day 47: Overview
- Distance covered:
- 15.5 nm
- Wind:
- 20 mph
- Conditions:
- Windy but clear and sunny. V Cold.
- Temperature:
- -35°C
The Heart of the Antarctic
This is the story of the “Farthest South” expedition, told by its leader. After enduring biting winds, short rations and crevasse-ridden glaciers for over a year, Shackleton’s party faced a desperate forced march to return to their ship, The Nimrod, or face being marooned on the ice.
Taken from Sir Ernest Shackleton’s own compelling chronicle of his first Antarctic expedition, written on his return in 1909.
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