I can't tell from the map of the journey where it was STOPPED... is it the yellow flag?
First Officer Felix who is frequently adding useful insights and comments to many posts here on this blog pointed to "the Coldest Journey" project in my earlier Caterpillar post. I'm not clear on what the intention of the mission was but clearly it was ill-fated since it's apparent that a group decided to "cross Antarctica" during the "winter" and "in the dark". My question: Why? Everyone in Antarctic research KNOWS that everything is easier in the Antarctic summer. What was the point of taking on extra risk unneccessarily?
My tentative answer is that the mission was NEVER MEANT TO SUCCEED... that it could be part of a campaign of brainwashing the world into a belief that Antarctica "can" be "crossed"... when in fact it's an ice rim around Earth Pond that is an infinite plain. The fact that the mission FAILED is consistent with the idea that there is no way to "cross Antarctica" but only to "go outward" and then "come back".
Here's the video First Officer Felix pointed to that documents the decision to "turn around and go back"-- the mission leader saying that the mission was too hazardous to continue.
The Coldest Journey has it's own YOUTUBE page and it's own homepage! One thing I noticed about the couple of dozen video thumbnails is that half of them are "BRIGHT" and obviously not during a 6 month long perpetual night of winter. How can that be? Many of the pictures are in fact in BROAD DAYLIGHT-- BRIGHT DAYLIGHT. If this mission was supposedly conducted during the winter "night" of Antarctica, we should see DIM light or NIGHT. Some pictures DO have complete darkness surrounding the subject matter. I don't understand.
Coldest Journey - YouTubehttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNVRJCNPpPaszObvUh_0x2Q/videos
Home - The Coldest Journey Homepagehttp://www.thecoldestjourney.org/
Here's a short description of the mission from the homepage
THE COLDEST JOURNEY
POWERED BY IRIDIUM
Follow the progress of the Ice Team Live with our live map and regular reports on wind speed, temperature, altitude and more...Seeing is Believing
My comment-- This sounds like the type of thing I'd like to do with a CIRUMNAVIGATION... and I too would use the phrase "seeing is believing" as a motto-- since I would have the team prove the distance of the circumference one way or another. In the case of the Coldest Journey, I'm not sure what they were driving at with the motto.
The official blog doesn't have much technical information. It's all about photos and fun. I'm beginning to suspect that the entire mission was fake-- like the Apollo moon landings and 9/11-- The entire mission could be done in a green screen room-- which is what I suspect is ALSO going on with the Vendee Globe yacht race.
Here is a suspicious photo of a sun on the horizon that seems much too large.
Here we see that the entire trip was sponsored. I wonder if the entire thing was a money making scam. Since they failed to complete the mission, did they return the money? Wouldn't it cost more than a "mere million" to do a mission like this with Caterpillar tractors, several men, fuel supplies etc? It seems to me that it's not possible to do a private sponsorship of a mission like this. There is no mention of approval by the Antarctic Treaty Authority either-- which would be the case if the entire mission was done in a green screen room.
Rick says... Take a look at this guy, Spencer Smirl.
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Rick says... I'm not sure what irks me about this photo. He was the chief mechanic hired to maintain the Caterpillar tractors. He's posing AS IF he accomplished a mission but he completely failed at it. If he was actually in the Antarctic at all, he endangered himself and his crew by agreeing to go to the South Pole from an UNTENABLE position-- the OPPOSITE side of Antarctica to McMurdo-- which is the GATEWAY to the South Pole-- during the WINTER. Who would agree to such a suicidal mission. The entire crew are lucky they didn't all die out there, if they went. How did the Antarctic Treaty Board approve this? Why would they? Why attempt this trip AND use it to raise money for BLIND PEOPLE? What the hell is the connection there? There IS NONE. They're making a fund-raising JOKE out of dangerous exploration of the 7th Continent, in my highly opinionated opinion.
Out of Antarctica: Spencer Smirl's role in the Coldest Journey - The Antarctica Issue v8.1 | techlife magazinehttp://www.techlifemag.ca/spencer-smirl-coldest-journey.htm
Here's a cute video Dave Holden complete with a theme song "Colder than Ice". This entire mission needs to be "fact checked for fakery" in my opinion. One thing that struck me right away about this particular "Cat" tractor modified for the Antarctic was that the tractor-treads themselves looked to me, on this video, to be sheer painted metal-- which would slip on snow. All other Antarctica machinery I've seen use a black rubber /metal combination of some sort. I'm not expert and I could be wrong but take a look for yourself-- at the treads of this tractor and see if they make sense to you for crossing ice and snow. Just so the reader knows, I'm proposing that we fact-check the hell out of all of these apparent missions since so much is being faked in the media today that it is definitely possible to fake an Antarctic mission.
I'd like the reader to compare the video above-- promoting the Cat machine-- to the LEM lander critique by Jungle Surfer. The entire Apollo moon missions were faked. If they can fake that, they can fake anything. Jungle Surfer looks at this LEM in the following piece, with a critical eye of a fakeologist.
NASA' S DIRTY PAWS ALL OVER ANTARCTICA-- is an ongoing surprise to me.
Rick says... I guess "space" isn't working out for NASA. Now that their space hoax has been uncovered, they're into Antarctica WAY more than I had at first imagined. This means that we've got a whole new level of problem on our hands. NASA is completely totally 100% discredited-- so therefore ANY involvement in Antarctica MUST be looked at with a super critical and contemptuous eye. There are almost 2 million hits on Google for nasa and antarctica.
nasa antarctica - Google Searchhttps://www.google.com/search?q=nasa+antarctica&btnG=Search&num=100&newwindow=1&safe=off&hl=en&gl=us&authuser=0&tbas=0
NASA was, in some circles of conspiracy thinkers, created to DISTRACT us, in the 1950's, from an infinite Antarctic plain by CREATING the "myth" of "space" as a "final frontier". The true final frontier has been ice rim Antarctica all along. So now NASA is being used to further the goal of brainwashing us into thinking Antarctica is an island of ice and snow when, in fact, it may very well be the NEW frontier across which we have NO IDEA what lies.
SEEING IS BELIEVING as the motto of "The Coldest Journey" is HIGHLY SUSPICOUS
Rick say's ... Even Wikipedia-- the CIA controlled "encyclopedia" has it's own "seeing is believing" page! What? A page for a "phrase"? Yup. It's that important to "them", the "controllers".
quote
Seeing Is Believing
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Seeing is believing is an idiom first recorded in this form in 1639[citation needed] that means "only physical or concrete evidence is convincing". It is the essence of St. Thomas's claim to Jesus Christ, to which the latter responded that there were those who had not seen but believed. It leads to a sophistry that "seen evidence" can be easily and correctly interpreted, when in fact, interpretation may be difficult.
Complete Idiots or Complete Hoaxsters?-- it's still undecided.The Coldest Journey officially begins | Seeing is Believing‘The Coldest Journey’ winter traverse of Antarctica begins today, at the March equinox. A team of five men aim to complete the first ever trans-Antarctic crossing during the polar winter.
The expedition will take place between the two seasonal equinoxes, 20 March – 20 September, with Ice Team members Brian Newham, Ian Prickett, Spencer Smirl, Richmond Dykes and Dr Robert Lambert travelling from Crown Bay to Captain Scott’s base at McMurdo Sound – via the South Pole. During this six-month period the expedition team will travel 2,400 miles in temperatures approaching -90°C and in near permanent darkness. The expedition team will be entirely self-sufficient, with search and rescue capabilities severely constrained due to the hostile winter conditions.
Raising funds to tackle avoidable blindness
As well as aiming to complete the first ever trans-Antarctic crossing during the polar winter, the expedition is attempting to raise US$5 million for Seeing is Believing. All donations will be matched by expedition sponsor, Standard Chartered, to take the fundraising target of the expedition to US$10 million.
Rick's comment-- Aha. "Standard Chartered" is a sponsor. What the hell is that? Sir Ranulph Fiennes, Expedition Co-Leader, was forced to pull out of the traverse at the end of February due to frostbite. Sir Ranulph continues to support The Coldest Journey by fundraising for Seeing is Believing and promoting awareness of the expedition.
He said: “Today my colleagues begin what will be a significant and life-changing challenge. They are the first people ever to try to cross the Antarctic continent during the polar winter – it is a huge feat of exploration and daring.
“It is a fantastic adventure and I am sure that it will succeed. Whilst the team are out there on the ice making history, I am proud to be here doing all that I can for the expedition and for Seeing is Believing, which is an incredibly worthy charity.
Rick's comment-- If they actually tried this, it's a STUNT, like Evil Knieval's jumps across a group of parked busses. on a motorcycle. And it's stupid, not daring. And they didn't even make it-- so I'm right.
Fifty-four year old Brian Newham takes over as Expedition Leader on the ice; Brian has considerable polar experience having spent more than 20 seasons in Antarctica, and having made nine visits to the Arctic.
Brian said: “Having worked for the British Antarctic Survey as a Field Assistant and as a Base Commander, I feel very at home in Antarctica. Granted, I haven’t attempted to cross the continent during winter before – no-one has!
Rick's comment- Yeah sure. Nobody has crossed the continent during summer either-- according to Math Boylan-- because it's not a continent and it can't be "crossed". It's an infinite ice rim around an Earth pond.
Raising funds to tackle avoidable blindness
As well as aiming to complete the first ever trans-Antarctic crossing during the polar winter, the expedition is attempting to raise US$5 million for Seeing is Believing. All donations will be matched by expedition sponsor, Standard Chartered, to take the fundraising target of the expedition to US$10 million.
Rick's comment: Why? I mean--- WTF? What's the connection? I don't get it.