2041 IAE 2008 » 2041 Team Leaders

More thoughts from our global team members

admin — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 21:11:16 +0000

Download More thoughts from our global team members

This video was shot on 22 March 2008, but due to conditions on the expedition has only just been transmitted.

A few thoughts from our team members

admin — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 21:10:27 +0000

Download A few thoughts from our team members

This video was shot on 20-21 March 2008, but due to conditions on the expedition has only just been transmitted.

Paradise Bay

admin — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 15:20:23 +0000

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Whales and penguins

admin — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 15:49:27 +0000

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Beauty and terror

admin — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 13:06:45 +0000

My favorite aspect of Antarctica is that it forces me to confront the relationship between beauty and terror. We talk a lot about the beauty of the landscapes we’re passing through, but I haven’t heard many comments on how scary it all is. The landscape presents an insoluble existential puzzle. What possible place could I have here? It is undeniably beautiful, but it is not warm and fuzzy and welcoming; in fact it is the polar opposite of warm and fuzzy and welcoming. I remember Randy Newman singing about the city of Chicago in the U.S.: “That town is a little too tough for you and me, girl.” The continent doesn’t care if you survive or not. Unlike the urban or suburban environments, for example, where most people on the planet now live, comfort and safety have not been built-in. When I walk down Broadway in NYC, for example, every single thing within my line of sight is man-made with the exception of the sky. It is a thoroughly human environment, whereas Antarctica is without apology anti-human. Antarctica is automatically by Nick’s definition outside comfort zone. That can create anxiety, depression, despair, panic. If the Amazon rain forest is a carbon sink, then Antarctica is a fear sink. “Beauty is terror which declines to destroy us,” said Kierkegaard (and I’m probably misspelling his name and mis-quoting him). That could be the source of the heightened beauty of this place – a subconscious gratitude that it didn’t deign to kill us. There was something thrilling about staring out into that desolate valley behind the E-base – a Biblical valley of the shadow of death is what it felt like to me. I kept asking myself, where do I fit in? And looking into that valley the answer always came back, you don’t. There was some perverse satisfaction for me in that.

Ice and Orcas

admin — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 11:44:41 +0000

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See also the video archive for videos that have just been posted from previous days.

Larsen B Ice Shelf

admin — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 11:41:18 +0000

Download Larsen B Ice Shelf

Day at the E-Base

admin — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 11:40:36 +0000

Download Day at the E-Base

Berth at Anvers Island

admin — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 07:38:06 +0000

The MV Ushuaia is currently between Anvers Island and Melchior Island. We are still awaiting updates from the ship.

A view of Anvers Island from the north

Message Wall added

admin — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 17:49:17 +0000

The E-Base Message Wall was a great success with nearly 200 messages of support to the team. A Message Wall function has just been added to this site, so please leave your messages of support as the IAE 2008 team continue their journey into leadership, discovery and Antarctica.

New video and messages are being sent from the MV Ushuaia later today (conditions permitting) so please watch this space.