The ice opened up just enough to improve our polar weary spirits which made even the taciturn Darcy smile. Coupled with our a morning rest, it was an all around good day.

We decided to take the morning off after nine difficult days. We stayed in our sleeping bags until 8:30. It was so nice to have a couple hours of extra sleep. Our trail weary bodies definitely needed it.

We spent the morning luxuriating in the warmth of two MSR stoves burning at full tilt. We ate our soup, still in Stanley insulated flasks, but in a noticeably more civilized manner - not having to wolf down bacon, soup and cheese in minutes at 40 below (its not a pretty site believe me). There were also a few sewing projects to attend to. AJ and I sewed pockets into out Terramar geofleece pants to keep the fuel pumps warm (we have to keep them close to our bodies 24/7 otherwise they leak fuel). I also sewed a a pocket onto my Terramar Thermawool base layer just to keep my Clif bars warm.

'It was really nice to have the extra rest,' commented AJ. 'More impressive to me today, however, was the incredible silence of the Arctic Ocean. Stopping at one point, I couldn't believe how absolutely quiet it was. It makes me feel so insignificant.'

The silence is also due in large part to the fact that we don't really talk that much. During the day, we ski in single file and it takes substantial effort to shout ahead. During breaks, we are often focused on eating and staying warm. We save most conversations for nights in the Big Kev, our Sierra Designs tent.

Chris from Seventh Generation forwarded the following press release. While there may be an ongoing debate onn the science of climate change, we still need to look at our energy policies now.

BUSINESS LEADERS FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY ARRIVE IN D.C. TO URGE SWIFT ACTION

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Clean energy and Fortune 500 executives arrived in Washington D.C. for the fifth and final leg of "Race for American Jobs: Clean Energy Leadership", a coast-to-coast virtual race to drive home the economic and job-creation benefits of national climate and energy legislation.

Sponsored by We Can Lead, the four-week campaign engaged business leaders across the country with events in Oregon, Colorado, Ohio and New Hampshire, before coming to Washington today. The 'race' baton, calling for swift passage of comprehensive climate legislation, was hand delivered to Congressional at briefings today on Capitol Hill.

The baton was signed by executives from Best Buy, Nike, Starbucks, Levi Strauss, Jones Lang LaSalle and Stonyfield, as well as clean energy companies, union leaders, investors and youth groups.

Comprehensive climate and energy policies such as those that passed in the House could create up to 1.9 million jobs nationally from 2010 to 2020, including up to 26,000 jobs in Oregon and 61,000 jobs in Ohio, according to a recent study by the University of California.

"The time to act is now," said Sarah Severn, director of stakeholder mobilization for Nike Inc., which hosted the first leg of the cross-country race Feb. 16 at its Oregon headquarters. "The U.S. needs legislation that gives clean energy entrepreneurs an even playing field to compete globally for innovation and job creation."

We Can Lead is sponsored by the Clean Economy Network, Inc. and Ceres' Business for Innovative Climate and Energy Policy (BICEP). For more on We Can Lead, visit http://www.wecanlead.org

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/

For media inquiries, please contact lora@screamagency.com

For technical inquires, please contact webexpeditions.net