Bernard and Thierry skied from 9 to 11 hours a day. They each had to consume a total of 400,000 calories. The food they packed along had to meet many requirements: it had to provide enough calories, with adequate proportions of carbohydrates, lipids and protein in view of the energy they were expending, combined with lightness and ease of preparation. Efficiency was definitely the key.
Often it was too cold to stop and eat. Dry fruit and mixed nuts served as the midday meal, eaten while skiing. They had to take short breaks, nonetheless, to drink, check their bearings and rest. In the morning and evening they made hot meals on small stoves that burned 50 litres of fuel. All the water needed for cooking came from melted snow. The menus were varied, made from freeze-dried or dehydrated ingredients for lightness, but providing 6,500 calories a day.
The tent took only five minutes to put up. It became their shelter, living room, bedroom and the place where plans for the next adventure were hatched. It started feeling normal to wash with snow. Pulling, pushing, climbing and skiing were part of the daily routine, along with observing and listening, to better understand this strange environment. Every day, they recorded a journal entry on audio- and videotape and in photos, to bring back images of their surreal surroundings with them.