Polar Trek 2001 team members may have slipped up when they began their trip across the ice of the Arctic, but their progress toward the North Pole is well on its way.
The group of 12 women began traveling in the wrong direction Monday after being dropped off to begin their journey, but Wednesday their skis were still pointed toward the pole.
“Today we felt a real sense of progress, even with our demanding communication schedule,” Sue Carter, the trip’s coordinator and an MSU associate professor of journalism, said on the group’s Web site.
“We feel good knowing that we can achieve our goal by covering 32 miles over the next six days.”
The women plan to reach the North Pole by Tuesday. If all goes as planned, their trip will mark the first time an all-women group has reached the pole from a Russian-based departure.
Bonnie Bucqueroux, the group’s Webmaster, said the team’s blunder may have resulted from a change in the trip’s starting point, which shortened their overall trip.
“That allows them greater flexibility so they can afford some slipups and still make their goal,” she said.
Bucqueroux, who also coordinates the Victims in the Media Program at the School of Journalism, has been monitoring their progress with daily updates on the Web site, www.womenquest.org.
The women have experienced some challenges since they left Ice Station Borneo, a popular launching place for North Pole trips where the women trained for the icy climate.
“In this environment, it is crucial to bond together as a team,” Carter said. “Being on the trek is not an abrupt change from our training at Ice Station Borneo, but it requires even more endurance.”
The group is currently sustaining temperatures ranging from 4 degrees below zero to 44 degrees below and 24 hours of sun each day.
In addition, the women have encountered ridges as tall as houses and leads - spaces of open water in the ice that erupt this time of year - that may slow their progress as they find ways around the obstacles.
“They may have to travel 80 miles to make it 30 miles toward the pole,” Bucqueroux said. “But, like team member Jen Buck said, ‘it’s better to have a long day skiing than a short day swimming.’”
The trials of the trail have made it difficult for the group to keep up with planned calls to classrooms throughout the country, which are monitoring the trip.
But they have managed to stick to a schedule that also includes collecting air samples for a research project at MSU and urine samples for Lansing’s Sparrow Hospital.
And amidst all their activity, the travelers have been trying to soak in the experience.
Bucqueroux said traveler Alison Korn has been reminding herself to appreciate the environment and women surrounding her.
“What she’s learning from this experience is that maybe she should not be encouraged to stop and smell the roses, but stop and smell the ice,” she said. “The focus is not on how many miles they travel, but on that fact that they are in the Arctic.”
