For a while, I thought I was at the beach. To my right, an open expanse of water. To my left drifts that could easily be mistaken for sand dunes. Underneath my madshus.com/" target="_blank">skis, a gently sloping swath of snow - the actual beach.

And then my sled caught on an ice chunk, tipped over and I was rudely shoved back into reality: my left hand was freezing to the point of being numb, windchills dipping past 45 below, an icicle hanging off my Optic Nerve goggle nose beak and a huge open water lead blocking my way to the North Pole.

An hour earlier I had commented that we were making good progress and the ice seemed to be improving. It had been a tough morning for sure - we seemed to be endlessly weaving around drifts, but all the leads were small and passable and there were no big pressure ridges. It was very cold and windy; however, visibility was decent - not great but decent. And then...

Skiing in lead I saw the tell tale black line in the distance and later climbed some blocks to have a better look. For as far as I could see to the northwest and souttheast, there was a 50-75 meter 'river' of open water. Insert expletive of your choice here. On either side was another 20 meters of thin newly formed ice.

With yesterday and today's wind, we have been drifting quite a bit. Last night, we moved 3.5 miles - one mile north and the rest east. The east part is worrisome as there is a chance we could get pushed too far and not make the pole. Our drifting is directly related to the wind which is part normal and part unusual. The wind affects ice movement , but it seems to be overpowering the normal drift patterns. My theory: with less sea ice there is now less land fast ice; therefore, the ice we are on is able to move more.

After an hour of skiing, we found a spot to cross but it was just to an ice Island. Insert second expletive here.

Physically, we feel pretty good, but the constant stress of changing conditions have taken their toll. Each of us has gotten frustrated over simple things. While the pole is looming close, we deal with each day as it comes.

We found two opposing penisulas that spanned the length of our tow rope (luckily). Then another swim (for me) while AJ and Darcy rigged the sleds for a catamaran.

'I hate doing that,' said Darcy. 'But it feels good to be on this side now.'

Also, bing is helping students become aware of their environment through an Earth Day Photo Contest. If you know of teachers and students that are interested in photography and want to take part in a great cause, have them enter at www.earthdayphotocontest.com."

On Newsvine http://ericlarsenexplore.newsvine.com this week, contributers are addressing climate change in Business. Please add your thoughts to the ongoing conversation.

Image: Darcy and AJ on the 'beach'.

The Save the Poles expedition is sponsored by Bing with major support from the University of Plymouth, terramar, Seventh Generation, Goal0, Atlas, Sierra Designs and Optic Nerve.

Remember, it's cool to be cold. Save the Poles. Save the planet.

For more information, please visit www.ericlarsenexplore.com

For information about guided Antarctic expeditions, please visit http://www.antarctic-logistics.com/

For media inquiries, please contact lora@screamagency.com

For technical inquires, please contact webexpeditions.net

The Save the Poles expedition is sponsored by bing and Terramar with major support from Goal0, MSR, Scream Agency, Sierra Designs, Stanley, Optic Nerve and Clif Bar.

Remember, it's cool to be cold. Save the Poles. Save the planet.

For more information, please visit www.ericlarsenexplore.com. For media inquiries, please contact lora@screamagency.com. For technical inquires, please contact webexpeditions.net. For lecture inquires, please contact smakmaria@yahoo.com.

A new remote audio post has been added to the blog...

The Save the Poles expedition is sponsored by bing and Terramar with major support from Goal0, MSR, Scream Agency, Sierra Designs, Stanley, Optic Nerve and Clif Bar.

Remember, it's cool to be cold. Save the Poles. Save the planet.

For more information, please visit www.ericlarsenexplore.com. For media inquiries, please contact lora@screamagency.com. For technical inquires, please contact webexpeditions.net. For lecture inquires, please contact smakmaria@yahoo.com.

A new remote audio post has been added to the blog...

The Save the Poles expedition is sponsored by bing and Terramar with major support from Goal0, MSR, Scream Agency, Sierra Designs, Stanley, Optic Nerve and Clif Bar.

Remember, it's cool to be cold. Save the Poles. Save the planet.

For more information, please visit www.ericlarsenexplore.com. For media inquiries, please contact lora@screamagency.com. For technical inquires, please contact webexpeditions.net. For lecture inquires, please contact smakmaria@yahoo.com.

Every once in a while, AJ will ask my opinion on the safety of a certain section of ice. I have two basic answers. 'Yes, but go out there and see.' Or, 'No, but go out there and see.' Determining the crossibilty of an unstable piece of ice is part science, part art and part witch craft. Actually getting across is all the above plus a lot trail hardened nerve, luck, some grisel and the big mo (momentum).

A cold and windy day on the Arctic Ocean had us adding an extra layer of terramar. Brrrr. We had gotten used to the warmish -20's. Luckily, the wind was from the south southwest and wasn't blowing all that cold in our faces. We had hoped that the low temperature and wind would freeze some of the open and thin ice leads, but it is obvious we are fighting a loosing battle. With summer on its way and 24 hours of sunlight, any water is absorbing heat As an aside, this is one of the feedback loops that is accelerating sea ice melt. We had high hopes for the day after crossing a 30 meter wide lead that was 'safe'.

That sinking feeling... That's one of us on a piece of ice. Going across sections of brash ice, open seams and overlapping thin slabs is tricky business. The ice is generally very rubbery and once fractured is completely impassible. The bigger chunks are nice because they at least float - it might be under water with your weight on it, but its still floating. Of course, that's just one person crossing. We have to get three across and our heavy sleds.

Darcy stepped gingerly out at one section gave the ice a poke with his pole, then took another step at which point things started collapsing underneath. For a split second he hesitated (a very dangerous thing) then lunged forward to safety (relative). However, there was now an open gap of water where he had just crossed. Just to the left, there was a pier of rafted two inch slabs where AJ and I might cross. We positioned the sleds for a 'long line' manuever - where we unhook one side of our tug line from our granite gear harness and attach it to the sleds effectively doubling the length of the rope.

I made it across but barely. I probably shouldn't have crossed but without another visible option my motivation to be on the other side increased substantially. Now AJ's turn.

Later he said it would have made a good cartoon. Darcy with his madshus.com/" target="_blank">skis off had a foot go through. Me standing on ice that was sinking and water rushing over my skis. Both of us imploring to, 'cross... it's safe.'

Unfortunately, the ice was too soft and AJ had to find another spot to cross. Just one of our many daily adventures.

Image: Our cozy home, the Sierra Designs Polar Tunnel tent (that I call 'The Big Kev') for the night in aa windy camp while flying our team bing flag.

The Save the Poles expedition is sponsored by Bing with major support from the University of Plymouth, Terramar, Seventh Generation, Goal0, Atlas, Sierra Designs and Optic Nerve.

Remember, it's cool to be cold. Save the Poles. Save the planet.

For more information, please visit www.ericlarsenexplore.com

For information about guided Antarctic expeditions, please visit http://www.antarctic-logistics.com/

For media inquiries, please contact lora@screamagency.com

For technical inquires, please contact webexpeditions.net

The Save the Poles expedition is sponsored by bing and Terramar with major support from Goal0, MSR, Scream Agency, Sierra Designs, Stanley, Optic Nerve and Clif Bar.

Remember, it's cool to be cold. Save the Poles. Save the planet.

For more information, please visit www.ericlarsenexplore.com. For media inquiries, please contact lora@screamagency.com. For technical inquires, please contact webexpeditions.net. For lecture inquires, please contact smakmaria@yahoo.com.

A new remote audio post has been added to the blog...

The Save the Poles expedition is sponsored by bing and Terramar with major support from Goal0, MSR, Scream Agency, Sierra Designs, Stanley, Optic Nerve and Clif Bar.

Remember, it's cool to be cold. Save the Poles. Save the planet.

For more information, please visit www.ericlarsenexplore.com. For media inquiries, please contact lora@screamagency.com. For technical inquires, please contact webexpeditions.net. For lecture inquires, please contact smakmaria@yahoo.com.