I have an Inuit friend who once, when witnessing a bit of waffling and last minute decision changes commented, 'make up your mind now so you can change it later.' For our part, we really haven't been changing our minds all that much. We've always wanted to get to the pole. It's more that all these last minute variables cause us to continuously amend our plans.

Just when we thought we had this whole mess figured out, we received news that we either had to fly tomorrow or wait several more days. With time slipping quickly away and the worst ice conditions witnessed for quite a while, we were hardly in the position to sit tight - cheese or no cheese.

Nothing like a bit of 'no other choice' to get a group motivated. The casual sewing circles of last night and this morning were put on hold as we moved on to packing our resupply and doing final gear checks. We managed to find a bit of freeze dried cheese, buy 5 kilos of bacon from Ozzie, dice up some extra salami that we had packed with our Terramar base layers.

Now, as my team member from the South Pole Dongsheng, recently emailed, we are GTG. Good to go. Well, almost. There are still few last minute tasks, but those are minor. We are looking forward to being on the ice, and if you can believe it, relaxing. Of course, we are really just trading one struggle for another.

Still, the prospect of flying to Cape Discovery tomorrow morning has left with an optimistic outlook. We are pleased with our gear and preparation. While we have joked that our team is more like the Bad News Bears, we are strong, smart and experienced. Our chances of success are good. But we are also pragmatic. There is a large distance between now and the pole and anything can happen. For now, we are setting the short term goal of getting our gear on the ice and setting up our first camp.

On a sad note, I wanted to offer my condolences to a good friend Scott Bishop. You are in my thoughts and I will be thinking of Noah throughout my journey.

I am lucky to have the support of Darcy and AJ - two stalwart companions. Each has assumed leadership roles as well as following roles at times during our recent chaos. We have had some fairly frank discussions but overall I am pleased at how cohesive our small group has become. There have been many others who have helped along the way.

AJ is especially grateful to all of folks at the University of Plymouth. Darcy wanted to send out a special hello and 'thanks' to his son, Aden, who is his biggest inspiration. For me, I have been lucky to receive the support of Bing and Terramar as well as many other sponsors. Tim and Elisabeth are amazing as is my incredible mom. Most importantly, I want to say thanks to my girlfriend Maria. I wouldn't be here without your support.

Changing gears to climate legislation, will you join thousands of other Americans in calling your senators today to ask them to pass comprehensive energy and climate change legislation?

Just follow these simple steps (don't worry, it's easy!):

1. Dial the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask to be connected to your senator's office.

2. When the staff member answers, identify yourself as a constituent: "my name is __ and I live in __."

3. Then tell him or her that you're calling to urge the Senator to fight for clean energy and put a stop to climate change. Here are some things you might say:

We desperately need help to jumpstart our economy and create jobs ­ and a clean energy and climate bill can help us do it. If we don't do something now, our children and grandchildren will have to deal with rising sea levels, stronger storms, increased famine and droughts, and more threats to our national security. We need to stop sending a billion dollars a day overseas for oil. Some of that oil money goes to countries that support the terrorism we are fighting across the globe.

4. Then say "thank you," hang up, and repeat the same process to reach your other senator.

We can't afford to wait any longer - we must pass comprehensive clean energy and climate change legislation this year!

Thank You!

Picture: All aboard the North Pole express! Ozzie's bus to show tourists around the bustling metropolis of Resolute - pop 249.

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

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

For more information, please visit www.ericlarsenexplore.com. For media inquiries, please contact lora@screamagency.com. For technical inquires, please contact webexpeditions.net