Arctic Agonies–Dominick’s Campsite Found?: The helos were up again yesterday, looking for missing Polar explorer Dominick Arduin. This time they spotted some ski tracks and the remains of a camp site, which they believe might be Dominick’s. The report raised hopes that Dominick might have survived the open water crossing and the recent storms, and is simply having trouble with her position beacons. The Russians don’t have the resources to keep flying every day to look for her, so the plan now is to head for a preplanned rendevous in a few days (where Dominick is supposed to be resupplied), and hope that Dominick shows up. Stay tuned…

Meantime, Ben Saunders is enjoying himself not at all (Hey! At least you are alive, buddy…):

“No easy miles today. Things started out looking good, but within an hour the headwind had started (frozen face and drifting backwards) and the cloud had descended. I could hardly see a thing. Fun fun fun. Swearing into my iced up face mask, I managed to grind out three nautical miles. It felt like more than that but today, as is often the case in the Arctic, I was going up the down escalator…”

Wave Vidmar didn’t do any better (at least he gets to stop when he gets to the Pole, while Ben will only be halfway home…) and is trying to keep his head on straight:

“During the day I fill my head with pleasant thoughts, like sleeping in my own bed, taking a shower, or just going to the store for a food I desire. The odd thing is I often have songs playing in my head. Typically older songs from the last 20-30 years. I guess a bit of sensory deprivation will do that (at least to me). The other thing you experience when out here in the Arctic is that your senses become heightened. You can hear a pin drop, and opening a box of matches I can smell the chemicals used to make them, the cardboard box, everything.”

Doesn’t Arctic adventuring sound tempting?



“Quit your bellyaching, boys. We’ve lived here for centuries, and don’t even have Gore-Tex…”