Stealth Expedition
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So far – so what?
The South Pole base appeared slowly on the horizon, with its characteristic globe, looking like a crash landed disco ball from an intergalactic party. An unreal place, with runways, barracks and motorized vehicles in the middle of nowhere. Rolf and Eirik wandered into the ceremonial area, where the famous ball of steel is surrounded by flags.
They had spent 60 days reaching the Pole, right on schedule. The log showed 2128 km, the date was the 19th of December, Troll-time and the 20th, South Pole time. All the time zones meet a the pole, theoretically, you can jump from day to day by running round the dome. Between all the flags, some joker had hung up a banner: “So far – so what?”
The Americans gave us a round of applause as we entered the dome. We were the first to wander in that year. They didn’t know we were coming since we were not on the ANI’s lists, says Eirik. Even fewer knew that they were going further.
The same day that Rolf and Eirik reached the South Pole, Martin Betts sent out an ANAN report with some ”news” of NAE. Betts stated with amazement that the NAE support team at home were not concerned with the fact that Rolf and Eirik’s positional transmitters only worked now and then. He showed a list of anonymous sources expressing concerns over NAE’s lack of communication. “…regular up-dates of the position and status of field parties is a fundamental requirement for Antarctic operations”, apparently.
Aasheim was charmed
To call NAE a perfect example of an expedition with effective, precise and comprehensive communications would be to exaggerate somewhat. A few weeks prior to leaving, Rolf had gotten in touch with the renowned explorer and author Stein P. Aasheim, and asked him if he would consider being the media contact for the expedition. This request was partly sponsor driven as they wished to raise the profile of the trip. Aasheim knew Rolf, and quickly accepted.
When they asked me, I was a bit concerned over the fact that the PR part was not really thought out. At the same time I found the expedition charming. Rolf and Eirik’s style demonstrated that they were not really concerned about the media coverage, and I was keen to back-up such an attitude.
Aasheim wanted to help, but was no expert on Polar expeditions. Therefore, neither he nor the lads had any specific hopes for what he might achieve. However, their alternative was zero publicity. After the trip began, Rolf and Eirik had asked that Aasheim said nothing of their actual plans, something which he honored.
Whilst at the South Pole, Rolf and Eirik realized that they were in good shape, and had no need for extra supplies. It was time to spread the news about NAE – “The Stealth Expedition” – was going to the other side of the continent.
The necessary phone calls home were made, and the news of the South Pole success went from parent to friends to sponsors. From the valley of Romsdal in mid-Norway, Stein P. Aasheim sent a press release about the explorers who reached the South Pole in clothes they made themselves, looked in their wallets and realized they couldn’t afford a plane out, so they decided to walk to the other side. He also made the point that the lads were trying to cross Antarctica just like Arnesen/Bancroft, but for only a tenth of the price.
The gimmick was noticed in Norway, but did not tell the whole truth. When NAE first shouted out about the world’s longest ski trip, knowing that McMurdo was within reach, the message that that they had actually planned thoroughly for it for many months became lost.
NAE’s reputation was also damaged by the fact that ”Captain Khlebnikov’s” tour operator, Quark Expeditions, questioned their travel arrangements, despite the fact that the deal was made in writing by email. The Quark people began to notice the storm of interest around Rolf and Eirik. They were possibly trying to avoid being caught up in any rescue operation which they thought might be necessary, such things are very expensive.
Despite Quark’s statement, there was a case of clothes and equipment aboard the ”Captain Khlebnikov” sent by Jacob Bae on the 28th of November 2000 to Monsoon Shipping in Hobart, Tasmania. In the case were clean clothes and equipment which Rolf and Eirik would need after arriving in McMurdo on their journey back to Norway. What was that case doing aboard the “Captain Khlebnikov” if the lads were never planning on sailing with the ship? Quark never explained.
In Antarctic circles, NAE’s newly announced goal dropped like a bomb. The outside world already considered NAE to be poorly organized, and without adequate safety procedures. Aasheim’s press release about the poor boys who had to walk home did nothing to change these opinions. There was suddenly a lot of traffic on the digital highway streaming over the heads of the two polar explorers, who were happily plodding onwards.
Rumors
The personnel at the American Scott-Amundsen base had welcomed them warmly. They offered medical assistance for Eirik’s frostbite on his inner thighs, they wanted to try and fix the Orbcomm transmitters, and Rolf and Eirik could shower and eat when they wanted.
To be polite, the boys had a cup of coffee and some hot chocolate. The rest was politely refused, in order to preserve the status of a self-sustained expedition. In reality, it was NAE who helped out the base by leaving one of the Orbcomms which didn’t work as well as a couple of sleeping mats and unnecessary items of clothing.
Rolf and Eirik were only interested in continuing their journey in peace. They did however leave in their wake a wave of rumors, which later developed in different ways, depending on who you speak to. Basically, Rolf and Eirik, the support team at home, the Americans at the base, ANAN reports and the Norwegian Polar Institute all contributed to the rumors.
Martin Betts was worked up when the Polar Institute denied knowledge of Rolf and Eirik’s plans to cross Antarctica. The fact was that the plan was known about, but only amongst a select few with no contact with the media. The Main Rescue Center in Southern Norway was also notified of the route, the way points and tentative time checkpoints. Rolf and Eirik’s problem was that the Polar Institute’s initial permit had specified that the boys must send a written application to the top management in Tromsø if they planned for large deviations from the permitted route. This application was never formally sent.
In addition to this, the ANAN reports continued to doubt the safety of NAE, despite the expedition having a $350,000 insurance policy for rescue with Lloyds which would cover any event.
Martin Betts began to take a serious interest in the Norwegian Expedition. He began to realize that it was going to be difficult for Rolf and Eirik to reach McMurdo by the 1st of February due to lack of wind. His next report, dated the 17th of January, described their alternative options for transport out of McMurdo. One included Arnesen/Bancroft’s charter boat, the “Sir Hubert Wilkins”. Due to this report, the manager of “Yourexpediton”, a million dollar business was suddenly involved.
Email marathon
Charlie Hartwell sat in Yourexpediton headquarters in Minneapolis, USA. He, of course, followed the ANAN reports from Australia. He immediately started to email NAE’s support team in Norway to inquire as to whether Rolf and Eirik would need a place onboard their boat. The ship’s owner, Don McIntyre, also became involved. Stein P. Aasheim noticed that Hartwell and McIntyre insisted upon knowing of Rolf and Eirik’s exact plans and were, on occasion, aggressive in their emails.
I was amazed that he contacted us so early. The boys were doing well, they had plenty of food in the sleds and had a good chance of making their booked boat.
Aasheim felt that his authority as press contact was being stretched, and he involved Sjur Mødre, the parents and the Polar Institute to keep them oriented. A friendly gesture in being the press contact had suddenly become an uncomfortable, full-time job, which Aasheim was certainly not prepared for. From his base in Romsdal, Aasheim had to fend off aggressive Antarctic businessmen with unknown motives, and at the same time, get acquainted with the bureaucracy of a continent he had never been to.
Soon, the wave of email about NAE’s fate escalated, and there was input from USA, Australia, New Zealand, Antarctica and Norway. In all of the trans-continental correspondence, there was a clear message that “The NAE Headquarters” in Norway had to take responsibility.
The problem was that the NAE hardly had any ”headquarters”. Rolf and Eirik’s command center was a few spread out individuals. In Romsdal there was Stein P. Aasheim, in Oslo sat Sjur Mødre, in Stavanger and Bergen there were a few friends and in Sola and Sandnes were the boys’ parents. Everybody wondered if Rolf and Eirik would reach the “Captain Khlebnikov” in time. Before they knew this for certain, they felt it was wrong to start making any other deals on behalf of NAE.
The boys themselves were out of contact. They already had enough to worry about.
The broken antenna
“I have always considered the so-called 'point of no return' to be somewhat of a trap for those who wish to reach any goal” - Fridtjof Nansen
Rolf and Eirik left the Amundesen-Scott base after two days rest and a lot of fun with the Americans. The boys had given a talk for the crew. Rolf was a little rough around the edges. Eirik felt as though Rolf had ridiculed the questions from the audience and had to remind him that their humble attitude should prevail at all times.
In front of them remained the last stage over the Polar plateau and down onto the Axel-Heiberg glacier, followed by the long trek across the Ross shelf out to McMurdo, about 1600 km in total. In an airplane, it would take approximately three and a half hours. Eirik wondered how much time they would need. They had 40 days to reach that boat.
The ice on Antarctica is on average 2000m thick, and 4776m at its thickest point. It has taken millions of years to build up this giant ice cap. The thickest part of the ice rests on bedrock which is 2000m below sea level. If all the ice were to melt, the world’s oceans would rise around 70 meters, that would reach the nose of the Statue of Liberty. Hundreds of years can pass before a snowfall in the middle of Antarctica reaches the coast in the form of ice, far beneath the surface of the glaciers.
Distance-wise, they were well over half way. Body and mind had of course begun to be affected. In Eirik’s diary he wrote: “Got cold today, but I know that others in this world are colder…”. The snow conditions were periodically very bad. Amundsen wrote that it was like trying to ski in glue. The Antarctic winds blow the snow in such a way that the crystals break down and it becomes like sand. Rolf and Eirik found it very difficult to edge their skis in this “sandsnow”. The snow particles were like ball bearings, and the skis just rolled all over them.
The cold, the wind and the conditions were no surprise for them, but Eirik began to have other reactions he was not prepared for. Missing home, his friends and family was a recurring theme in his diary: “This trip has shown me WHAT and WHO means things in life. (…) I am so much looking forward to seeing them again.”
I hadn’t been homesick since I was at camp as a 10 year-old, not even when I spent the winter in Antarctica. I now experienced a very strong image of what it is like being at home.
Eirik could not forgive himself for not having been at his sister’s wedding, but an important meeting with the sponsors was taking place in Oslo.
Friends and family were not the priority during the preparations, and I now regretted that. To wander here, up on the ice gave me a very bad conscience. The trip lost all its meaning, I was walking in a cloud of negative thoughts.
Think of Kristian, your cousin who had built a fantastic apartment which was always open, he had made many rare and fantastic friends, and in the course of 2 seconds, he was gone. At the funeral, you saw all of this and said: “Kristian was always there for us.” And here you are, on the world’s biggest ego-trip, you couldn’t even make it to you own sister’s wedding. You should be her closest family, and you chose to meet a sponsor.”
Day 70, the day before New Year’s Eve he wrote: “Maybe you go to Antarctica to find something, yourself perhaps. I think I left what I am looking for back at Sola airport in Stavanger; family and friends. Imagine having to walk all this way just to find that out.”
Mowing the lawn and icicles
Another reason for worry came up: The 29th of January was a fantastic day for the kites, 203 km in one go, only 66 km behind the record of 269 km in a day. The problem was that they had strayed 60 km off course due to the wind direction. Now they had to walk due west for three or four days to hit the entrance to the Axel-Heiberg glacier correctly. Rolf – the navigator – apologized, knowing that they had lost valuable days. With hindsight, some may say he purposely took a wide berth around the isolated Russian Vostok Base, where they almost certainly had plentiful supplies of vodka.
To compensate, the boys took a sip of Lagavulin and some snus to celebrate the new year. Then it was onwards over the “big, white silence”, Eirik charging, restless with his gaze fixed towards McMurdo and his thoughts all the way back home on Norway. And Rolf, with all the time in the world and all of his solid routines, very much aware that record attempts in Antarctica have one golden rule: To get there first, you first have to get there.
Rolf was also homesick, but this was more linked to concrete memories which he had experienced on other trips.
For some reason or another, I always think about mowing the lawn when I am on a trip. I so much look forward to mowing the lawn in my bare feet, with the birds singing around me, a beer on the porch and Dylan singing about Rainbow Trout. When I finally get home, I can never stand to mow the lawn.
What else? You cannot think about mowing the lawn and blackbirds for 3800 km. His diary does not reveal much, and is almost unreadable for anybody other than Rolf.
I had already thought about things at the Troll Station for a whole year, and was actually done with most of it. It was more the basic stuff that explorers think of; food, girls, new trips or what my friends were doing back home.
Once Erle gave up, Rolf was even more pleased that he had gained some real friends who kept in contact with him while he was in Antarctica. One of them, Rune Grønningen, had rung Rolf regularly whilst he was in Dronning Maud Land, he was one of the few. Rolf and Rune became good friends, and it was Rune with whom Rolf had spent most of the summer before leaving for Antarctica. The last time Rolf rang before leaving, Rune had sung a happy song about an icicle which grew out of Rolf’s backside, while Rolf himself rolled on the floor in laughter. Such memories were treasured and a big comfort on the ice. Rolf wasn’t to know that he would never see Rune again.