On New Years Day, the Patriot Hills Camp on Antarctica wakens to the New Millennium without fear that the Y2K Bug will strike here.  First Hot Air Balloon Launch on the South Pole.

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Adventure Travel Story Continued.

 
On New Years Day, the Patriot Hills Camp wakens to the New Millennium without fear that the Y2K Bug will strike here. We have no computers, no electricity, and time is already standing still. We're in the twilight zone, and perhaps the only place on earth that the Y2K Bug can't get to. But everyone's thoughts wander back home to their families and loved one's. All imaginable scenarios are played out, but we won't know what really happened in the civilized world for at least four more weeks. For all practical purposes the rest of the world could be on another planet. In fact today the camp has troubles of its own that may jeopardize the entire expedition. It has been discovered that the “Snow Buggies”, have brought along their own bug. All eight snow buggies begin to experience a production flaw. The gearboxes that unite the engine with the wheels have not been tested in these extreme weather conditions and begin to fail in all eight vehicles. An emergency meeting is organized and a decision must be made. The vehicles no longer can carry the weight of the 38 man and woman expedition and their provisions. A painful decision is made and 28 of the 46 are chosen and the provisions are cut to the bare minimum. Emergency food rations and fuel are cut down to an alarming fraction of what was originally planned, and the personality of the expedition takes on a more serious tone. Several of those, which are chosen, pass their opportunity to others, claiming that the safety of the expedition has been severely breached at this point. They site that there is no chance for rescue should the expedition breakdown in the Thiel Mountains, because no aircraft can reach the group beyond that point. 

A small coo breaks out when the Russian Expedition leader excludes all the woman from the forward group. Nonetheless, on January 2, the striped down expedition leaves the base camp on its way for the South Pole. The caravan of eight snow buggies and four trailers loaded down with provisions and all the fuel that it can carry. 

Copyright by Curtis Lieber

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