The wind picked up steadily throughout the night and the temperature warmed up slightly to -4 Fahrenheit. The clouds cleared as well and for most of the day, we skied through clear skies and a sun that we could almost feel the heat from.

Itâ??s definitely polar like here. As we skied across the frozen surface, wind sculpted drifts reminded me of my recent trip to Antarctica. But itâ??s colder here than Antarctica if you can believe that, and dark during the night. Itâ??s also more humid here and all of these factors mean that actual physical camping is much more difficult here than at the South Pole. Each morning, we stick an arm out of our warm sleeping bags and brush a thick layer of frost off the tent walls. Iâ??m not going to lie, itâ??s not that much fun. But like so many other things out here itâ??s temporary and soon we will be out and skiing and perfectly comfortable.

The group: Gus, Dave, Dave, Nathan, Bruno and Felipe are all doing incredibly well. Yesterday, we skiied Northwest into the wind all day. The skies grew overcast as well. By the end of the day, the wind increased and we struggled to get the tents up safely. Luckily, each of my polar students has mastered the myriad skills need to be safe and comfortable out here and they managed to quickly make camp and crawl inside the tents.