LIVE Arctic Challenge Sat Phone Update #4…
April 27, 2015
by David Mercer
Transcript:
David Mercer:
Good evening LMAX, it’s David Mercer, I’m alongside Ollie Philipps, it’s day 12. It’s been a pretty brutal day, so I thought we’d change it up a wee bit, we’ll have a rapid fire session with team captain Ollie Philipps, so here we go.
Let’s start. Ollie, on a scale of 1-10, with 1 obviously being pretty awful, and 10 being brilliant, how did you rate today’s trek?
Ollie Philipps:
Probably about 4, it was pretty brutal, the fact I was acting the rear gunner, I was meant to be looking out for polar bears which have been just non-existent from the moment we arrived here, meant my pace was pretty chequered all way, possibly even a 3. It was sluggish, it was hard work, the wind was in my face, and I was lugging up an hill and constantly waiting left, right and centre for everyone, it was a nightmare – 3.
David Mercer:
In terms of effort today, how would you rate that, 1 being none 10 being a lot?
Ollie Philipps:
I would say 8, because it was relentless, we were going up a hill and then the terrain was changing to start with, so there was snow, ice and gravel and then mud – then it went, as we turned the corner, freezing cold wind blew into my face which drove me insane because my beard froze to it. Then we got to the top of one summit and were told we were going to see the flat sea, but as we got to the top of the summit we saw about 7 other hills ahead, it shattered all morale. So, I would say 8, obviously there was some more left in the tank and if I really needed to dig in, I probably could have dug in more, but it was pretty tough.
David Mercer:
Right, now, Ollie, from 1 – 10, this tent, how do you rate it?
Ollie Philipps:
Overall, it’s top draw, we kicking nice tents, the bounce is brilliant, we get on well, we’ve got a good combination. The combination normally works that ‘Dexter’ aka Steve Henry comes in and cooks and cleans for everyone, Ollie Philipps does all the hard grunt, gets tent prepared, sorts the bags and David Mercer has a fag, that’s normally how it works.
However, today I would probably rank us at around a 5 maybe a 4, because the cog wheels were working incredibly well, it was well oiled mechanics as usual, Dexter and Ollie working seamlessly, however David Mercer this time blew a gasket and we lost a cog, unfortunately it flipped out, he swore eff and blinded for about 2 minutes, occasionally at Dexter if he tried to get involved, and then thankfully because we’re at the North Pole and it’s freezing, he cooled down pretty quick. Now we’re back and he’s stroking my bald patch, so we’re alright now, we’ve all kissed and made up. But today, I’d say the tent performance was kicking around 4 – 5.
David Mercer:
In terms of your tent mates, overall, not today, how do you rate, Steven ‘Dexter’ Henry?
Ollie Philipps:
Well, I mean, he turns up and he was the silent assassin, and a misunderstood character, and then we realised that what he’s into is just really slaying bodies and dismembering them. Once everyone got to terms with that and dealt with it, and accepted it, we grew to love him, now he’s a living legend. The man sleeps relentlessly, but he’s a phenomenal cook in the kitchen. And then you’ve got, David Mercer, who bowls up with more ‘front’ than Brighton, does very little but says very much, but he’s marmite, you either love him or hate him, I actually don’t like marmite, but I love David Mercer, so go figure?
David Mercer:
I didn’t pay him to say that!!
But he’s got a cheek!! Ollie Phillipps. Ollie Phillipps has got a cheek – he says that Dexter sleeps a lot! We’re talking about Rip Van Winkle here. He sleeps an hour longer than the rest of us…
<Transmission ends>
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