MARGARET: UPDATE FROM THE BOYS

After a couple of days radio silence the boys have just called. The training has been difficult because it has been about 5°C most days which is too hot to replicate the icecap environment and properly test out their gear. With one of our friends recently having to call in an evacuation due to frostbite and a very cold start to the season out on the ice they would have liked lower temperatures to train in. Pete said it has been wet and soggy, which is far from ideal - you want it dry and crisp. The other problem is that it has been overcast the whole time and they have not managed to charge up any of their electrical equipment with the solar panel. They have also been having problems getting our email account set up on the rugged PC. So given the lack of power and difficulty with email they have made the decision not to take the PC and won't be writing their own blogs. Instead they will call me daily with an update and I will fill you all in. They are taking a spare battery for the sat phone and we hope the sun shows it's face at some point so that they can keep the phone charged enough to also call friends and family occasionally.
Pete is returning home in a couple of days and will bring photos and videos from the training week back with him so we'll post them over the weekend. Keep leaving your messages of support on the homepage. I will pass them onto the boys when we speak.