#25: Downhill?!

Today was the day we deserved after yesterday’s trudge. The surface had hardened up over night and the glide we had was glorious. The wind picked up a lot over the course of the day, but the drift snow was gone, so lunch was quite pleasant in the absence of wet snow blasting you in the face. By the time we arrived at camp the wind was probably gusting around 80kph. There was a decided shift to undulating terrain today, with more downhill than we have seen so far. We encountered some sections where we could even glide for a metre or two, our sleds catching up behind us. Sherief had a big day learning how to ski downhill. Our resident Egyptian, Sherief’s first day ever on skis was 22 days ago. Today, he had to learn to control himself going downhill on icy snow, with skinny skis and a sled attached, as well as a gusty and unpredictable side wind. It was a fantastic effort! 33km in the bank today! It sort of hit us today that there is only two days left of this trip… on one hand it has felt like a lifetime, but on the other it’s flown by in the blink of an eye! Mardi