Day 8– And then this happened

November 13, 2011 8:15pm

November 12, 2011
S71°32.357 E010°44.749

Elevation 5166 ft


Hard to believe we set off a week ago, already. With barely 74 kilometers covered since, we have not made a dent into the 4000 planned. No surprise here, as I had projected for two weeks to get up on the plateau. We are within the margins.

The day started still as a corpse. Not so bad to perform the daily morning ritual outside of the tent. And a better view for it would be hard to ask for! Over breakfast, the familiar flapping of the tent’s fabric suggested, timidly at first, that today might not be all hauling after all. It may as well have been. We rigged our 13 meter Frenzy’s but no sooner had we began ascending the next hill that the wind turned to a whimper, and the surface drew flashbacks of the first days. A messed up terrain of mounds and sastrugi tightly weaved together giving the sledges every opportunity to jam and stall the progress. We were inching along, diving the kites into figure eight’s to gain a foot or two. We switched to the big Yakuza’s and their 75 meters of line. Getting them up was a one shot deal, as the lines were begging to get stuck into the jagged icy chard’s. In the end, the Yak’s were too powerful for this surface and we switched again to the 13’s, forcing on us the tedious task of winding those endless lines.

The wind was light and fluky, and we were sweating bullets to gain ground. And that is when it happened. There is an irrational, yet universal tendency, when sustaining an injury, to wish you could simply be brought back to the moment preceding it in order to avert the event. In this case, however, I am not entirely sure what and when it happened. But with each pull of the kite, countered by the sledges bucking me backwards, my right side suddenly felt as though a dagger were jammed between the rib cage. The harness gets pulled in both direction simultaneously every time I dive the kite. The result is a squeeze which is fair game under normal play, but when the ribs are bruised is like getting kicked repetitively in the sour spot. I could hardly breath. With that, we set up camp to appraise the damage. Hard to say other than whatever it is is no fun. We had covered 12.5 kilometers of tough terrain.

Today, Sunday, we opted to take the day off and give my ribs a chance to rest. I spent the afternoon sowing straps onto my waist harness in an attempt to turn it into a seat harness… Tomorrow I will try the pain killers off the first aid kit, making sure not to over do it: we have over 70 days left and I doubt this new surprise will leave me anytime soon. Eric will take the secondary sledges for now, and on we go.

11 Responses to “Day 8– And then this happened”

  1. Sanni says:

    Sounds like a reason for a day off. Take care.

  2. Ginger says:

    Or 3 days! You take all the time you need to get better Sebastian!! SENDING GOOD VIBES TO YOU BOTH!!!!!!!

  3. Poppy Gaye says:

    Came across this post on fb. Wow!

    Sounds painful and frustrating- hope ribs heal quickly enough to continue without too much pain.. major ouch…

    A truly amazing journey. keep strong.

    Poppy x

  4. Leila and Mathew says:

    Hey Sebastian,
    We are reading your blog every day, it’s reading like a big suspense action adventure. We hope that your body recovers in such as way so you are not in pain, we can only imagine what that must be like and then having to pull all that weight. Back home it’s the same, Francis speaking new words everyday. Aidan is reading your blog with us, it’s so cool to discuss it with him.
    Lots of love,
    Leila & Mathew

  5. Hope you are feeling better soon,that must be very frustrating,got to rest it a bit to recover for the long haul ahead.Take Care.

  6. Kiri von Klier says:

    ..sounds like you could do with your sexy, loving Doc right now..;-) rest well,love from the Kliers

  7. BASILE says:

    Take all your time to adapt your body to this new journey. Be careful and take care.

  8. Eric MTWater says:

    Just a small question : do you use a seat harness or a waist harness ?

  9. Sea Bass, our thoughts are with you. Please remember that while we are inspired by your courage and your journey, we want you home in 1 piece! There is no defeat in this scenario-you have already “won” by being out there. Love you.

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