For a while, I thought I was at the beach. To my right, an open expanse of water. To my left drifts that could easily be mistaken for sand dunes. Underneath my skis, a gently sloping swath of snow - the actual beach.

And then my sled caught on an ice chunk, tipped over and I was rudely shoved back into reality: my left hand was freezing to the point of being numb, windchills dipping past 45 below, an icicle hanging off my Optic Nerve goggle nose beak and a huge open water lead blocking my way to the North Pole.

An hour earlier I had commented that we were making good progress and the ice seemed to be improving. It had been a tough morning for sure - we seemed to be endlessly weaving around drifts, but all the leads were small and passable and there were no big pressure ridges. It was very cold and windy; however, visibility was decent - not great but decent. And then...

Skiing in lead I saw the tell tale black line in the distance and later climbed some blocks to have a better look. For as far as I could see to the northwest and souttheast, there was a 50-75 meter 'river' of open water. Insert expletive of your choice here. On either side was another 20 meters of thin newly formed ice.

With yesterday and today's wind, we have been drifting quite a bit. Last night, we moved 3.5 miles - one mile north and the rest east. The east part is worrisome as there is a chance we could get pushed too far and not make the pole. Our drifting is directly related to the wind which is part normal and part unusual. The wind affects ice movement , but it seems to be overpowering the normal drift patterns. My theory: with less sea ice there is now less land fast ice; therefore, the ice we are on is able to move more.

After an hour of skiing, we found a spot to cross but it was just to an ice Island. Insert second expletive here.

Physically, we feel pretty good, but the constant stress of changing conditions have taken their toll. Each of us has gotten frustrated over simple things. While the pole is looming close, we deal with each day as it comes.

We found two opposing penisulas that spanned the length of our tow rope (luckily). Then another swim (for me) while AJ and Darcy rigged the sleds for a catamaran.

'I hate doing that,' said Darcy. 'But it feels good to be on this side now.'

Also, Bing is helping students become aware of their environment through an Earth Day Photo Contest. If you know of teachers and students that are interested in photography and want to take part in a great cause, have them enter at www.earthdayphotocontest.com."

On Newsvine http://ericlarsenexplore.newsvine.com this week, contributers are addressing climate change in Business. Please add your thoughts to the ongoing conversation.

Image: Darcy and AJ on the 'beach'.

The Save the Poles expedition is sponsored by Bing with major support from the University of Plymouth, Terramar, Seventh Generation, Goal0, Atlas, Sierra Designs and Optic Nerve.

Remember, it's cool to be cold. Save the Poles. Save the planet.

For more information, please visit www.ericlarsenexplore.com

For information about guided Antarctic expeditions, please visit http://www.antarctic-logistics.com/

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For technical inquires, please contact webexpeditions.net