Day 31

I think we all agree in the group that we do like snow, quite a lot actually, but 20 cm of the wettest kind overnight might be stretching that affection a little. With the ongoing snow fall came zero visibility, so it was time to dig out the compass harness and get strapped up.

The routine is very simple in principle; you have a bearing and you just set the compass mounted on the rig accordingly and follow that. In reality; it is far from that easy. With no terrain features to guide you, your perceived sense of direction plays tricks with you within meters. So, the only way to ensure you keep the course is to stare at the compass constantly and preferably never take your eyes of it. That is harder to do than it sounds whilst skiing, dragging a pulk and breaking trails for the rest. If you trust your sense of direction, it won’t be long before you turn 90 degrees whilst being certain you are skiing in straight line.
We established that the most effective way was to reduce the load on the lead person by taking one pulk off them, which of course means someone at the rear of the group gets to drag three, which was easier than it sounds.

Thanks to the deep snow and the navigational challenges progress was slower than usual today, but we still clocked at respectable 13.5km and 150 meters of ascent.

Now, as we lie in the tents, the precipitation is lessening and the visibility marginally improving. Tomorrow is forecast to bring approximately 15 knots of headwind which may be unpleasant in the moment, but could improve the snow cover, so fingers crossed that we gradually get clearer weather with firmer snow under our skis.