Polar explorers Pen Hadow, Martin Hartley and Ann Daniels are surviving on half rations as attempts to resupply them were abandoned for the third  day running by the Catlin Arctic Survey.

The team, who have been battling in what they describe as ‘brutal’ conditions are currently surviving on their last food supplies after bad weather forced one resupply mission to turn back and grounded two other planned flights. The explorers now have only a day’s food remaining.  Temperatures have been consistently down at minus 40 degrees Celsius with strong winds making things even worse.

The flight from Resolute in northern Canada will only take off once weather reports and satellite images confirm the weather is suitable to make a landing on an ice strip close to the explorers latest camp. 

“The fact that a re-supply plane came so close but was unable to reach us is dispiriting”, Hadow, the expedition leader, told colleagues at the CAS Operations Headquarters in London today.  “We’re hungry, the cold is relentless, our sleeping bags are full of ice and, because we’re not moving, the colder we get. Waiting is almost the worst part of an expedition as we’re in the lap of the weather gods. This is basic survival”.

Photographer Hartley, 41 today, has frostbite in his left big toe. He told the London team by satellite phone:

“We’ve just heard we’re not going to get a re-supply today. I had hoped we might celebrate my birthday with fresh supplies but right now there’s no propsect of a party.” 

Head of Operations Chip Cunliffe commented,

“Re-supplies can be difficult if the weather turns against us, but  we now have an urgent need to reach them.”

The Catlin Arctic Survey team faces an additional hazards after new satellite images revealed a large expanse of open water directly in their path on the 1,000 kilometre journey toward the North Pole.  The break in the ice stretches for tens of kilometres forming an unavoidable barrier to their progress north-wards. It means in the  next few days the team of Pen Hadow, Ann Daniels and Martin Hartley, will face an arduous swim across the freezing water - effectively an ‘arctic river’.

Cunliffe said:

“Our priority now is to get the plane to them to replenish supplies of food, batteries and cooking fuel. Once they’re set to continue, we’ll be searching to find an ice-bridge that could get them across the rift without going into the water, even if it means a substantial alteration their route.” 

The CAS is 17 days into its estimated 85 day scientific survey to measure the thickness of the remaining Arctic Sea Ice. The results will enable scientists to understand better what is happening to the shrinking ice mass and further work in predicting  how long it will survive as a year-round feature.

Click here for more information about the Catin Arctic Survey

Tags: Ann Daniels, cas, Catlin Arctic Survey, Martin Hartley, Pen Hadow, Polar Exploration

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 18th, 2009 at 11:02 am and is filed under Catlin Arctic Survey, Jenrick Engineering, Jenrick Group News, Jenrick IT. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.