Katie-Jane’s diary entry from plunge pool

” And so it starts, One World’s training has begun. On the 27th December whilst the rest of my family are enjoying their ski holiday, I took my first experience of throwing myself into a frozen lake. The lake at ‘Le Praz’ was frozen right the way across, not ideal. Tarka would have liked me to fall through the ice naturally as I skied across a thinning section as it would be more realistic, but that would have to wait until another day! Instead we borrowed a pick axe and hammered away until a 6ft by 12ft hole had been made. I then put on the orange ‘dry suit’ made especially for Arctic expeditions, and now having looked at the pictures I realize I looked like a giant orange germ from the ‘Harpic’ adverts, not my most attractive look! Any way, Tarka assured me that it takes a real knack to swim in, hence why I was practising.

So without nerves, which is good for me, after all what is there to be nervous about this time, there are no currents under the ice to suck me in, no never ending blackened ocean below, no animals to bite my legs off and I wasn’t going to be able to feel the cold, so I sat on the edge and popped my feet in. I then subsequently squealed. It was the strangest feeling; my legs floated so much I couldn’t actually push them down through the water beneath me. I then became a little nervous as to how I was going to control my whole body once in. Tarka reassured me in his usual manor, by stating that I would be fine as long as I don’t fall onto my front, as the only gap in the suit was around the face and if it were to fill up then I would sink and drown! After a few squeaks I pushed down hard on my legs and hopped in, only to find I could on put my feet on the bottom with the water only waist deep! I took one step and shot off the ledge upon which I must have been standing, and as soon as I did, up shot my legs, thankfully in front of me so that I was in the correct position laying on my back. I was ordered to swim around on my back getting used to swimming forwards and backwards whilst moving the floating ice out of the way. After a few minutes it was safe to say I had mastered it.

So next I was to learn how to get out once you have fallen in. All of which was a piece of cake in the dry suit as I had no fear, for I was going to float and it wasn’t cold. But soon came the time to discard the dry suit and put on the skis. The lake is right in the thick of the ski lifts, and now that people could see I was about to ski into the lake in just my clothes a small crowd had gathered. I actually count it as a blessing, as it was only several minutes that I was stood on the edge trying to pluck up enough courage to ski off the edge, and without them, especially the man who had run off to get his video camera and sprinted back not to miss the spectacle, I might have been there hours! I was incredibly nervous for just one reason, I was panicking that the shock of the cold water hitting me would make me hyperventilate, panic, freeze, anything that would stop me remembering the routine. I had seen it happen before, the shock that is. In freshers week at university there was a tradition on the first day of term (October) of jumping off a bridge at 6am into the River Dart below. The water currents where strong and as soon as you had jumped in and surfaced you had to swim to the side immediately before you were washed downstream. Well I have the memory of one guy who from the shock of the cold water, surfaced nothing short of paralysed, unable to swim, unable to reach out to the hands reaching in to pull him to safety. He was eventually pulled to safety a little further down the river but by then I had been put off jumping into cold water for life.

The eyes staring down on me finally took their toll and on my 20th count of 3 I was in. I reached back the way I had come, first rule accomplished, and threw one ski pole back, with the other I ran my hand down to near its base so I could use ts as an ice peg. I couldn’t feel the cold. I could feel I was getting wetter as the icy water seeped through every layer, and with it I was getting heavier, forcing more pressure on my arm, which was holding me to the edge. Next job, to take off the first ski, and its here I became a little panicked. I found the small toggle, which unclipped the binding, but still I couldn’t release my boot. Whilst trying to remember desperately my rules, ‘don’t let go of the ski, as in the Arctic it could float under the ice pack and never be seen again’ and make it out in a good time so as to avoid hypothermia I was pulling up on my toe instead of the heel. It eventually came off, a good 15 seconds after it should have, but thankfully the second ski was less of a problem, and before I knew it I had hauled myself out onto the ice.

From the exact moment I left the water, the intense burning from the cold hit me. It’s quite difficult to describe, like being scalded but with cold water not hot. I then ran to the pile of dry clothes to put on, with onlookers still staring down, I thought better of stripping completely as I would have to in the Arctic and just bared all to my undies, being careful not to step on the ice with my wet bare feet. Getting all the clothes off was a pretty speedy event but moments later when I came to put on the dry ones I was struggling to coordinate my fingers through the violent shakes, and I struggled to master any zips or buttons. Tarka would not help me “you have to learn”.

Well overall I am quite please with today’s efforts, especially as water and ice are two of my biggest fears. I would even go as far as saying I would feel confident to do it again in a much faster time. I will add however this newfound confidence is lake specific! Open water in the Arctic ocean has been described to me as black as ink, due to the lack of light reflecting through the small narrow leads, and the thought of falling into that black obis and what lies beneath makes me feel sick. On top of that the other danger that plays on my mind and cant be taught on any lake, is the water movements and currents of the ice. In an open lead where two ice packs are moving together, the displacement of the water could theoretically suck you under. Detecting such things I can only learn when im out there! But today I mastered the cold and I have to be happy with that.”