From the Book 'Alone Across Antarctica'

by Borge Ousland.

That first day on the shelf I headed due north to get clear of land. A little to the west, a large glacier was exerting a strong pressure on the shelf, and creating disturbance in the ice. There would be calmer ice the further I got. Close to land I surfed across large 'waves' until they died away.

The shelf in here was thick, perhaps eight hundred metres, but like all else that floats, it was exposed to the pressure of the tidal system. Small fissures appeared, ten or twenty metres wide, but surprisingly deep. I approached the first with caution, out of habit, but they weren't anything to worry about. I continued heading out and during the evening I reached the 84th parallel. The next day I would turn north-east and take my first steps directly towards McMurdo.

There was not a breath of wind and it got very warm. I had removed my long johns and skied without my anorak. Inside the tent the sun blazed on the flysheet. Acclimatised as I has been to the cold of the plateau, I was now sleeping with my body half out of my sleeping bag. I was glad I'd chosen a bag with a zip. This would have been unthinkable at the North Pole, but here it was a great advantage to be able to let some air in. Amundsen described the conditions on the shelf as 'tropical'. Life became noticeably easier, working without mittens wasn't a problem and the frostbite on my face and finger-tips had already begun to heal.

There really was a lot to be pleased about. Mentally I was gradually shifting into another gear, a lower one, my days were no longer filled with nothing but struggle and drudgery. It was now easier for me to see how exposed I'd been up on the plateau. I didn't need to worry any more about my toes being left in my boots in the evenings, I could take plenty of time over my breaks instead of forcing myself onward in order to keep warm, and at night I was sleeping considerably better because I wasn't gasping for more oxygen. Only my legs were in poor shape, they were still quite feeble.

I was covering thirty kilometres over a ten-hour day with ease, and thought I'd be able to reach McMurdo with a good margin. But there are many who've fallen at the final hurdle. I had to remain vigilant; bad weather, accident and fissures could still stop me. Breaking a leg whilst sailing on hard ground could just as easily happen here, even if conditions were generally better. The thin line that divided success from failure, my performance so far, and what was needed to see me safely to my goal were frequently on my mind.

Reproduced with kind permission from Borge Ousland.
Borge Ousland is one of the world's most experienced polar travellers. He has traversed Greenland, skied to the North Pole twice (the second time solo), skied alone to the South Pole and in 1996-97, alone and un-aided, he traversed Antarctica on skis.