Welcome for Arctic trekkers

Updated November 7 2012 - 3:45am, first published July 9 2010 - 12:06pm
ADVENTURERS: Rob Rigato and Linda Beilharz at the civic reception.
ADVENTURERS: Rob Rigato and Linda Beilharz at the civic reception.

ARCTIC adventurers Linda Beilharz and Rob Rigato got a warm welcome at a civic reception in their honour this week.Adventurers young and old gathered to hear from the husband and wife explorers who trekked to the North Pole in March and April this year.The trip, with Canadian guide Sarah McNair-Landry, made Linda the first Australian woman to reach the North Pole and the South Pole.They presented what Ms Beilharz said was almost like a family slide show, while talking of the struggles and triumphs on the 55-day trek.Ms Beilharz and Mr Rigato spent three weeks in Canada with Ms McNair-Landry, whose parents are also polar explorers, where they engaged in last-minute training while acclimatising to the chilly weather.They braved temperatures as low as minus 38 degrees, but trekked through an average of minus 30 degrees.Once or twice the trio were lucky to get a few sunny days of minus 10 degrees.But in their tents at night they were kept warm by camp stoves and thick sleeping bags.Ms Beilharz said both couldn’t be used at the same time because moisture from the stoves turned to ice on the sleeping bags.They slept in down sleeping bags with a synthetic bag on the outside that caught moisture in the air and prevented icing on the inside.The closer Ms Beilharz and Mr Rigato came to the pole the harder it became.They had to cross more and more open water, which Mr Rigato said was his least favourite part of the trip. Where the ice had separated and exposed the Arctic Ocean, they sometimes had no option but to swim.One of the group donned a waterproof suit and climbed in to use sleds for floating their gear across.They were also pushing to meet a deadline — the last flight able to pick them up from the pole was due to leave on April 26.If they were not at the rendezvous, they would have been picked up and brought back without achieving their goal.Ms McNair-Landry came up with a radical plan, a pattern of trekking for 10 hours and resting for two. It worked, and they reached the pole with hours to spare on April 25.Since their return, Ms Beilharz has worked with school groups to teach about the icecaps and the importance of preserving them.

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