Update

Many of you have noted that things have been a bit quiet hear of late - sometimes accompanied with jokes and, albeit less often, concern as to the various rather nasty predicaments that I may have gotten myself into. As always, the truth is rather less interesting and this has just been a break between expeditions. They tend to be rather boring with a bit of recovery, light training, admin for future trips and shopping for more gear.
I took the time to visit some old school friends in New York over the Paddys weekend which included the rather dismal England performance against Wales - but at least it is clear that our problems came from the refereeing performance from our old friend Steve Walsh! From there it was the Ethan Allen express (train) up to Vermont for some sking.
Despite going business class, we had no seats so spent the entire 5.5 hours in the restauarant car (thinks tiny canteen with a few pic nic tables nearby). This would normally be a bad thing but the company was great (12yrs old Glenlivet and a series of interesting vsitors) which meant that the trip flew by.
This is also the time to introduce a new player to the stage Angus Caithness (LinkedIn ) who supplied the above mentioned bottle of whisky and will be joining me on a number of the upcoming climbs, including Everest itself! No doubt there will be plenty more on him and other bottles of strong spirits over the next year or so!

I head off to the North Pole tomorrow so am in the midst of last minute packing and shopping. If you are interested have a look at the following links:

First, a welcome message from the organising team- Welcome video. This also includes a shot of the beast that I will be dragging round the North Pole for the next few weeks.

Secondly, the link to the blog that the organisers will be running for the trip - Expedition Blog. This blog seems to have a link where you can ask questions to us or the organisers about the trip - apparently this is very popular for kids who are interested in finding out a bit more about the North Pole and survival there.

Anyway, more to come when I get to Longyearbyen in Svalbard.