The Antarctic Expedition rounds the Ellsworth Mountains and begins its straight run for the South Pole nearly 800 miles ahead to launch the 1st Hot Air Balloon on the South Pole.

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Adventure Quest Continued.

 
The Expedition rounds the Antarctic Ellsworth Mountains and begins its straight run for the South Pole nearly 800 miles ahead. Within 20 miles from base camp, the first of the gearboxes begin to breakdown. Repairs are made, the expedition moves forward, but more breakdowns just keep occurring.  By the end of day one, eight repairs have stopped the forward movement of the expedition, but the moral of the Russian crew that accompanies the vehicles begins to hold the upper hand. These men jump out as a team in the -40 degree Fahrenheit weather and tackle each problem like it will be the last time. 

They seem to be part of the machine itself. Traveling less than 100 miles this day, the expedition sets up camp and meets to discuss the Achilles heal of the expedition, the gearboxes that drive the wheels. There were only 14 spare gear boxes brought on the expedition and today we've gone through 6 of them. At this rate we would be unable to reach the South Pole and return back to Patriot Hills. In fact we are soon approaching the point where we would only have enough to return and make it back to Patriot Hills. 

Vladimir Chukov, the Russian Expedition Leader, asserts his belief that we can make it to the pole if we reduce our weight once more and travel slower in the vehicles. Directly West of the camp, the Hart Mountains loom 4,000 feet above sea level, being the only geographical land visible to the explorers. However, over 3,000 feet of this mountain range remains buried below the glacier that they stand on. 

Upon breaking camp the next day, the Hart Mountains fall over the horizon and for the rest of the day only a sea of snow glistens in all directions. Despite this vast expanse of wide open territory, each member independently comes to the realization of how small a pocket of life they really are, and that at any minute they can be swallowed up by the wrath of Antarctica. The weather remains sunny, the winds calm and forgiving, almost understanding of the mechanical difficulties that the expedition is experiencing. The temperature is 32 degrees Fahrenheit below zero. 

Copyright by Curtis Lieber