Christina Franco North Pole Solo 2010

Solo polar explorer Christina Franco has completed her second week on the ice, attempting to become the first solo female expedition to reach the Geographic North Pole.

Acclimatization to the arctic conditions continues, with Christina gradually increasing her daily distances towards the Geographic North Pole. It is by no means easy going, she has had to contend with vast areas of ice-rubble, open water, thin ice, strong winds, and low visibility, not to mention temperatures as low as -40 degrees C. Christina has had to use her intuition and improvise to stay on schedule; on Day 8 she had to put on her yellow drysuit, and using her sleds paddle across a large area of thin ice to find a suitable area to camp.

Equipment problems persist in the low temperatures, affecting the operation and handling of Christina’s essential tools; “I had a bit of a disaster with my fuel bottle which leaked all over the tent floor”.

A major milestone for any polar expedition is reaching the first degree of progress towards the pole. In her Audio post to Expedition HQ she says: “I’ve hit my first degree!! There are only 6 more to go and I couldn’t be happier.”

Yesterday, on the anniversary of Christina’s Fathers passing, she praises him as her inspiration. “I miss my Daddy very much and he is such an inspiration… everyday was so much harder for him than what I am doing here and I have to remember that.”

Christina’s father battled with Motor Neurone Disease (MND) before his passing, and as a result the Motor Neurone Disease Association is one of Christina’s selected Charities, the other being Save the Rhino. If you would like to make a donation to either of these charities, please follow the links via Christina’s website: http://christinafranco.com/charity/

Thank you to all those that left messages on the ‘Send Christina Your Support’ post. Expedition HQ has collated these, they will be printed and added to her re-supply drop which will be parachuted to her around the 21st March.

Position on 17th March 2010: Lat: 84.0902 N / Long: -78.5019 W

Follow Christina:
On her website, with daily audio diaries and expedition updates: http://christinafranco.com/
On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/christinafrancosolo
On Twitter: http://twitter.com/cfranco27

Picture: © Luca Bracali

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