Our hardest day on the expedition yet. 16,500 calories burnt between us, 9.5 hours of skiing and 20kms covered. The day opened crisp and clear. The polar sun high and the Forestal Range beautiful in the morning light. We spent the first hour trudging uphill in sugary snow and watched as the character of the Sallie Snowfield changed around us. At first impression it looked as though great ocean an rollers were rising all around us, huge waves of snow, their white crests formed from broken and jumbled ice formations.
As the day progressed we climbed steeper and steeper waves until we were faced with an ice cliff to our East and a field of crevasses to our West. We threaded the needle between these two formations and climbed higher through the snowfield. We are at 1800m now, on a snowy plateau safe in our tent.
A gruelling day but we’re happy with our resilience, decision making and team work.
Suunto Stats
Skiing Time 9h 35mins
Distance 20.02kms
Gareth
Average HR 124
Max HR 168
Calories burned 8243
Richard
Average HR 131
Max HR 165
Calories burned 8325
Wow, 16,500 calories burnt between us. We have often been asked about nutrition and today we share one of the high calorie foods that is essential on a polar expedition, olive oil. Not only a brilliant source of calories, but a healthy fats and the important health benefits of olive oil have been attributed to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.
We were incredibly lucky to be supported by Rylstone olive press, the finest and freshest extra virgin olive oil that is full of flavour and is palatable. The brilliant team at Arrow Packaging individually packaged over three hundred 60ml olive oil sachets and we have this twice a day providing 483 calories per sachet.