Encouraged and fortified by yesterday's afternoon of rest, we today posted a new daily distance record. In addition, we broke through that magical 20 km per day psychological barrier. From here on, we will need to make plus-20-km days on almost every active trek day if we are to reach the Geographic North Pole by May 1st, just over three weeks from today.

There was little change in the weather; no sun today but, thankfully, sufficient light filtered through the cloud cover to allow us to see, at least partially, the lay of the icescape. On some occasions we did experience partial whiteout, interrupted by blue pack ice here and there.

The terrain is gradually becoming more friendly. The sheets of level ice are noticeably increasing in size, boarded by narrower pressure ridges. Obstacles hindering progress are decreasing in number. Our average speed of advance today was between 2.3 and 2.5 km per hour. Active skiing time was 9.5 hours. Add to this the time spent on lunch break … a long day at the office.

All is well with the Expedition.