Dispatches Jun 7 <— Oct 28 2001

Dispatches Oct 28 2001 —> Jun 7 2001

	Oct 28. A trip around the Land of Fire
	Sunday today and we keep preparing. This year, Tina has arctic fox in the hood instead of the usual wolf. It looks good, but the fur is fluffier. It won't stand as stiff in the winds but it's cozy and stylish. Our load keeps piling up, today we hit 220 kg and there is more to be added. We struggle to keep the last items down in weight. Being a rest day, we took the car for a short trip around the Tierra Del Fuego (land of fire). The natives used to burn large fires on the beaches in the past, thus the name, invented by visiting seafarers. The beaches and the ocean are a true last wilderness. It's rough, it's rugged and breathtakingly beautiful.

	Oct 27. Small things count
	There is a serious aspect of downscaling to polar travel. Pulling all of need on a single sled brings out an urge to minimize. Another big issue is to shorten the time needed for camp routine. And thus there are all those small details invented over years of polar adventure, handed down between polar farers like treasure. All medical pills, band aids, and other stuff is removed from covers, repacked and marked with name, strength and administration. The tent poles are taped for fast setup; lines already attached to snow plugs. The shoes, the skis, the ski poles, the sleeping bags, the stoves, the food, the fuel, the masks - there is a science of detail to everything. But once you hit the ice, it makes all the difference

	Oct 26. Carpe Diem
	Last night we went to a local restaurant for a Paella. Huge amounts of lamb, Chilean sausages and other grilled meats were brought to our table. The leftovers came with us in a true doggy bag for our four legged friends out in the cold. White Fang is around, as are a bunch of new hairy faces. The morning brought sad news regarding a close friend. We went to the local cemetery for a moment of reflection. It has been a dark fall. Let's go to the ocean, we said to each other. Whilst we can. By an old beach hut, we made us a temporary gym. We assembled tires, pieces of iron and other useful stuff. On the deserted beach point, there was a nice, solitary house. People in army wear arrived in Jeeps. Through the large windows we saw white tablecloth being arranged over tables. We went up to the house. A few large men came out to meet us. Ristorante, si? We asked, starving after workout. Menu por favor? All of a sudden the roar of a fighter plane just above our heads caught our attention. More planes tailgated just behind. It dawned on us that this was in fact not a beach side restaurant. This was the air force diner for special guest. How special, the fighter planes exhibition made very clear. So did the men's faces. The rest of the day we spent taking care of all those tricky bits and pieces of an Arctic expedition, such as isolating the ski pole handles with foam and extending the bands to fit over bulky mittens.

	Oct 25. Wherever we lay our hat...
	Years of working travel have taught us to make home and office almost anywhere. In our hotel room we have established an audio recording space, home office space, an electrical workshop, a film and camera corner and another corner for miscellaneous tech. The rest of the junior suite is divided into expedition gear and personal gear warehouse. It's a beautiful day in Punta. With this dispatch, we are today testing the new software, allowing us to post the pic and text off line. And this is just the place to test remote publishing. The lines are so lousy, we use the mobile and infrared ports for all mail and web work.

	Oct 24. Punta Arenas, Chile
	It's great to be back! Amazing how fast one forgets. Its been only 9 months, but it feels like years. Yet, we immediately remembered the familiar sense of adventure as we got of the plane. And we went right into action. Established BC at the hotel; setting up office in the room, and went to the warehouse to pack the sleds. The place is packed with gas drums this year, we had hardly space to turn. But we were done by midnight and finished off with a beer at Shackletons.

	Oct 23. Santiago, Chile.
	We have made it this far! Visited San Cristobal between flights.Its a hill overlooking the city with a statue of Santa Maria on the top. Spring is in the air, its all green and smells sweet of jasmine. Are at the airport now, leaving for Punta in a few hours. This pic and disp over PDA and mobile; Ericsson R520.

	Oct 22. D-Day
	At last all the bits and pieces are counted, weighed and packed. We'll have 4 large stuff bags and a drum on the flight. The rest is down in Punta Arenas already. Now we just need to get it all on board the plane, especially the very bomb resembling tech gear. It's an entire case with computers, solars, batteries and cables, all embedded in endless wire. We fly to Lima (Peru) from JFK at midnight, then to Santiago (Chile) tomorrow morning and finally reach Punta Arenas in Terra Del Fuego midnight tomorrow. One chapter is closed. A new has started.

	Oct 21. Indian summer night in New York
	The advantage to live in Manhattan is that it never sleeps. Last night we browsed Broadway for the last medicals at Duane Reade and freeze dried eggs at the Sports company. The day had been beautiful and the evening was balmy. People strolled the streets and there was a scent of Kathmandu in the air. A smell of burning incense mixed with Italian sausage and hot corn. Boarders came rolling between traffic with a rattling sound and sixty-something bikers came right behind, looking too cool on their Harleys. People of all color and origin mixed, wearing light clothing, eating meals at open-air restaurants, enjoying the warm Saturday evening. It was all very far from Antarctica. One last shopping spree ended at Victoria's Secret for Tina. The sales lady obliged with a ten pack of briefs. Tina declined: "I'm sorry, can't take them, they are too heavy". A moment of silence entered. Heavy? "Yes, they weigh too much." Tina tried to explain; Antarctica, sleds, skiing... The staff came forward with lighter panties.

	Oct 20. Countdown and counting
	Mails keep coming in and we just can't keep up. Sorry guys if we neglected you, replies are on the way. A friend from Parsons design institute came by to discuss Nike tech lab. We might be doing a really interesting jacket made out of space material for the North. Very lightweight and excellent cold resistance. We are packing up and weigh every item. Our lightweight fleece pants are 23 oz. Face mask: 6.5 oz. Cooking pot gripper: 1.2 oz. This is fun. Last day at the gym. Jose gave us a music tape for Antarctica with a note: "Remember you guys kick ass and are nothing but the best!" There we are, a Puerto Rican trainer and two crazy Swedes on a mutual mission. Only in New York. Jose is the one up for the tough task to put us back together after Antarctica to the North Pole. If anyone can do it - it's this guy!

	Oct 19. Office fever
	The ExplorersWeb office in downtown Manhattan boils with pre-expedition fever. Mails, phone calls, people and deliveries drop in at all times. We are mounting the second tech set up and it's awesome: A wearable 500 MHz Transmeta processor, head mounted full color display, Blue tooth and IBM Via voice! Manhattan is a bit stirred by all the Anthrax and war events. Streets are closed, blue lights everywhere, cameras and media trucks in every corner. At the post office, clerks are wearing gloves. It's not easy to get things done, but that's part of the challenge. No war's stopping us! Or anybody else around here.

	Oct 17. Roof top Test Transmissions
	It's unreal how much work goes into pulling a simple sled for a few months. Today, we start our dispatches to tell you all about it. Currently, we spend our time between the gym, the office, in yellow cabs or at the roof top of our building in NY to try out the satellite systems. This pic shows Tom transmitting a pic and message over satellite using PDA and a dig camera. This ultralight setup is very promising. Outside of Antarctica, it can be used connected to a world mobile, like our Ericsson R520. There is even a baby solar for the system. For us, the question now is if the PDA liquid crystals will stand the Antarctic cold.

	Oct 16. Getting there..
	Tom and Tina have yet a few laps to go in the sandpit before their departure for Chile next week. The last tech is being loaded, the sled checked, the mails replied to. Somewhere on the horizon, Antarctica is calling.

	Oct 12. Pulling for Antarctica
	T&T are preparing for the first leg of the double Polar quest. Antarctica is now only weeks away. The picture is the first dispatch pic, sent straight from the gym over satellite phone, using PDA. Tom is upgraded to a heavy truck tire and Tine to two double car tires. All tires sponsored by New Jersey's turnpike.

	Sept 14. Everest of Cities on Fire
	New York, the home of Explorers Web head office, has been attacked. Although we are all safe (main parts of the office members are currently in Europe for Sponsor talks) our hearts breaks for our city. It is not strange that ExplorersWeb chose NY as the base of operations. NY is the Everest of cities and as such natural grounds for the staff. Moreover, statistics shows that 80% of NY citizens are first generation immigrants. The similarity to Everest is obvious. Sagarmatha, Choma Longma, Everest...we all have our different names for this mountain, the mightiest of them all, towering above us. And yet, the mountain is the same to all of us. We are put on trial here: Greed, power, fame. Everest decides, sometimes fairly and sometimes not, as we prove ourselves: Who will live, who will die, who will help, who will look the other way. The attack on our city is an attack on the entire world. It is an attack on freedom, dreams and democracy. It is not about religion or race. It is about evil against good. Like on Everest, we will summit. On the summit we will join hands and look up to the Universe. Explorers Web will have no more news updates until Monday. Our thoughts are with the American expedition on Everest and other Americans in the Himalayas. Americans are paying a terrible price. May God now give all of us the strength and the wisdom to do the right thing on our climb, on and off the mountain.

	Aug 27. Explorers Web Polar Team back from warm water cruise
	T&T recently returned from the deserted islands outside of Venezuela's coast, where they cruised Santa Maria for a month with friends.
	Read report, check pic's..

	Jun 30. Polar training in New York
	Tom and Tina are running business as usual in NY whilst preparing for their Polar expedition.
	Read more..

	Jun 27. Tech Report from Wearable Computing South Pole Expedition
	The tech report from this past winters Antarctic expedition is here. T&T used wearable computing and head-mounted monitors to transmit dispatches and pictures from the journey. Read about their experiences with the tech.
	Read more..

	Jun 24. The Poles Wearables Expedition
	Report from T&T's preparations: "Skiing to the North Pole requires some kind of protection against Polar bears. The bears are some of the world's most dangerous predators to humans as they consider us a great meal value. Grizzlies will attack, but the Polar will actually consume a person. During an Everest expedition in 1999, we made friends over Internet with Michael, an HRT (High-risk team) police officer from New Jersey. That came out handy this weekend, as Michael took us to a shooting range to practice bear protection.
	Read more..

	Jun 22. Preparations have started
	The Poles wearable expedition is getting ready for the second attempt to consecutively ski both of the earth's poles without assistance. Cutting edge, wearable technology will again be used to transmit daily dispatches. The tech is being updated with latest versions and the team is preparing for the physical and practical aspects of the 6 month long adventure. This weekend, the team is training shooting (for Polar bear protection) in New Jersey, US. Dispatches and pics from the preparations will be published on this website up to the teams departure for the ice.

	Jun 7. Wearable tech in the Arctic's now streamed
	The world's Internet leaders meet at INET conferences to exchange experiences and shape the future of Internet. This year, Ericsson is the main sponsor. Explorers Web's last winters expedition to Antarctica is presented at the world meeting and this is a great chance to check out the expedition on a streaming video at the Ericsson web site. The expedition members used wearable computing for over 60 days and transmitted pics and dispatches over the Orbcomm satellite system. It was the only satellite system operating over Antarctica opened to public at the time. The expedition used custom designed software to convert pic data to text messaging before reassembling the data back to pics at the home server. Hot tech in freezing conditions on the first land formed on earth. Check it out!
	Check out video... [video itself not archived]