27 Nov Storms Brewing – Day 6 on SPEC

We woke this morning with a storm brewing to the south. When I open the tent flap to look outside the Western Mountaineering sleeping bag beckons me …stay, but we need to keep the pace up if we want to reach the South Pole.

Also, the less cooperative the weather, the more testing of our technology we can achieve. The day is ‘white” and the storm moves in quickly leaving just a thin blue line on the horizon to remind us there are other colors out there.

So I grab the bio fuel provided by Shell and start the stove, get the water to boiling then decide where to begin…tea?, coffee or maybe oatmeal. This precious liquid made from wood chips will warm our bodies, feed our stomachs and our souls.

I take a moment and recall my visit to the Shell research plant in Bangalore India; there I felt the enthusiasm and hope for the future. These incredible scientists and researchers working so hard, believing so unconditionally, that what they were doing would be part of the solution in reducing the amount of fossil fuel we use each year.

I have to say that the reality is, we won’t/can’t change from fossil fuels to renewable energy overnight. Just not possible with the needs and wants of humanity.  I anticipate it will be a 50 year shift at least, but we have to get this transition started, working with individuals, industry and governments to increase the flow of change.  And so, there on the faces and in the laboratories of this incredible Shell plant in Bangalore was change….now my tea tastes so much better.

It is taking us about 2 hrs. from waking to departure in the morning so I move a little faster. We ski over 8 hours today and cover 9.91 nm. Almost at 10nm/day. That is our current goal. We are all well, eternally grateful to our supporters and partners and will check back in tomorrow.

Rob Swan-