A life in the tent

People have asked what our camp life is like and what we do once we crawl in the tent.
Our tenting routine is quiet laborious but also very disciplined because by the end of the day we are not only tired but extremely cold, so we need to get warm in a hurry.

We all do our jobs when we arrive at the campsite.
We set up the tent together and while Martin and I finish securing the tent with skis, ice axes and other equipment, Ann goes inside and sweep the tent clear of condensation and loose snow on the tent floor.
This is important because nothing on the North Pole ever dries and you don’t want to start the stove in a wet tent It would increase more moisture and everything will get wet including your sleeping bag.

Martin cut snow blocks for water - very dense and dry blocks ideal for melting water in a very efficient way.
Then Ann and I have usually our girl moment in the tent while Martin fiddle around with his camera equipment.
Once we have our belongings inside and the stoves lit, the undressing starts.

Our frozen jackets hats, face masks and mitts, down jackets and ski pants all has to come off and dried on our makeshift laundry line where we hang things from safety pins.

Then the most painful moment of all: taking off our boots.
We quickly put on dry socks and down booties and finally have time for a hot chocolate.
That is when we say life is good in the Arctic!

We turn on our GPS write down our position for the night that I have to report at 20:00 sharp to our base camp at Barneo in case of an emergency.
We make 10 liters of hot water for drinks and for a hot water bottle inside your sleeping bag to stay warm and to be ahead of the melting cycle in the morning.
After my check in I call a sponsor on the list - every night a conversation about our findings on the North Pole and lastly I call Henk Jan our Basecamp manager for the final update.
Around 21:30 I can start to write my blog.

By then Ann is asleep and Martin and I have just selected a picture to accompany my blog.
Somewhere in between we manage to eat.
We carry expedition food meals, just add water wait 10 minutes and ready.
Meals are not the highlight of our evening but just necessary calories to function here in the cold.

After sending a blog I go to bed immediately.
No time for reading or chatting because the alarm will go off at 6 am when Ann lit the stove.

Position camp:
lat=89.39041
lon=152.04423