Expedition Siberia 2004-5: After three days of skiing
-58 degrees Celsius. Extreme cold. Three days of skiing after leaving Zyryanka and pulling a pulk with way too much weight. If the first three days would have offered any steep hills or river edges, big problems. Or pressure ridges, which we would encounter later. The pulk was too heavy and the cold was too difficult. We could feel a difference when we had a bit higher temperatures, like -45 compared to below -50. It was like pulling the pulk on sand. Nothing for free. Only hard work. Anything exposed skin was under threat. Glove off, tough work to be able to use the fingers for detailed work. Exposed forehead or eartips, they turned white. Too much sweating, your breath iced up. We were scared those first few days. I doubted we would be able to stand the cold for much longer. It was mentally exhausting. We needed somehow to change the mindsetting.