Traverse from the coast to Concordia. Credits: ESA-K. Oldenburg

Traverse from the coast to Concordia. Credits: ESA-K. Oldenburg

ESA-sponsored medical doctor Beth Healey is returning to Concordia over land, a 1300-km trek lasting 10 days…

Update 2: We have made it back to Concordia, arriving on the evening of the second. We enjoyed a warm welcome at Concordia and all enjoyed the journey.  

I caught a flight early the next morning to MZS Station where I am now waiting to board the Italica ship to start my jouney home! 
Latest position. Credits: Openstreetmap

Latest position. Credits: Openstreetmap

Update: We are currently at:

71 42 407 S
131 44 898 E

We are 689km from the coast and travelled 127km today. We had some delays due to a technical problem which have since been resolved. We enjoyed Christmas ‘on the road’ and although no turkey, we enjoyed some escargot!

Just wanted to give you an update of our progress! We are currently positioned at: 68 12 269S 136 00 156E

Location on map. Credits: Openstraatmap.org

Location on map. Credits: Openstraatmap.org

We have travelled 230km and are on Day 3 of the traverse. We have reached an altitude of over 2000 m above sea level and I am starting to feel a bit breathless again!

Things are going well so far and we are due to arrive at Concordia for New Year’s Eve. I have collected seven samples of snow along the route so far for the ESA BacFinder experiment.

We are a crew of 11 people driving in pairs of eight Challenger Tractors hauling several sledges behind each, plus three snowploughs to make a road for us. I am driving one of the Challenger Tractors.

Happy Christmas from the Traverse!!