Chilli con carne may not be everyone's ideal breakfast choice, but as Adrian Hayes and his teammates prepared for their 26th day on the ice in temperatures as low as minus 22°C no one seemed very bothered about table etiquette.
As the three men defy the elements on their way up the Greenland ice sheet, a rota for cooking duties as well as for where they sleep - they take turns with a cordoned-off section of their long tent that allows one man his own sleeping space while the other two have to share the other end - is one attempt to eliminate possible tension-builders.
On Sunday morning it was Hayes's turn to cook.
"I love them so much, I'm going to cook a feast," Hayes laughed in a call to The National via satellite telephone.
It's a good sign that Hayes is laughing after yet another challenging week for the team, who are trying to kite-ski the length of the world's second largest ice-sheet with limited food and fuel in freezing temperatures.
With seven days of either no wind or light breezes from the wrong direction, they have found themselves drifting farther east than north.
"In the last six or seven days we've had pretty much light winds or south-easterly winds. We have had a couple of days where we have not been able to move at all," Hayes said.
"When the winds are light you haven't got a lot of choice about which direction you go.
"When they're much stronger you can use different kites, you have much more flexibility, but when they're very light you can go 90 degrees off the direction they're blowing from."
As a result, the team has drifted off course, and for the past few days they have been desperately trying to claw their way back west again.
"There is a fair bit of strategy in crossing Greenland in comparison to crossing the other ice caps where you pretty much get up every day and pull the sled north, no matter what the weather.
"With this you have to take into account what wind speed there is, what direction, which kites you use, how far east or west you go and what elevation you go up to."
The best and fastest route north, he said, was westerly because it allowed them to take advantage of the katabatic winds, which "blow down off the high plateaus, down to the coast".
The stop-start nature of the past few days had been frustrating. "When there is no wind you say, 'Right, it's a rest day', you can't do anything about it," he said.
"But when it's a strong wind and there's no visibility, that's a bit frustrating, or when the strong winds are blowing in a different direction."
The longest stop so far has been two days.
"The first day is OK - you sleep, relax and listen to the iPod, but on the second day you start to chomp at the bit. None of us brought a book because we were saving on weight. Derek brought a book on his iPhone.
"So you just think, you sort out your equipment, you look at your map for the 50th time, you write a blog for the 50th time, and you listen to your iPod and the same music for the 50th time."
Since they reached the Arctic Circle a little over a week ago temperatures have plummeted to - 22°C in the mornings - with the windchill factor making it feel twice as cold.
But despite the hardships, Hayes and his teammates Devon McDiarmid and Derek Crowe remain awestruck by the beauty of the island.
"Greenland is a fascinating land of ice," he said.
"There is nothing to see apart from white or blue or the odd aeroplane flying above.
"It is very different to Antarctica. It looks like it has been groomed. Like a ski slope. It is very flat, fantastic snow conditions.
"We just see it as the largest ski run in the world, except it's flat."
loatway@thenational.ae
WORLD CUP FINAL
England v South Africa
Yokohama International Stadium, Tokyo
Saturday, kick-off 1pm (UAE)
The Limehouse Golem
Director: Juan Carlos Medina
Cast: Olivia Cooke, Bill Nighy, Douglas Booth
Three stars
SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
Easter Sunday
Director: Jay Chandrasekhar
Stars: Jo Koy, Tia Carrere, Brandon Wardell, Lydia Gaston
Rating: 3.5/5
The specs
Engine: Single front-axle electric motor
Power: 218hp
Torque: 330Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 402km (claimed)
Price: From Dh215,000 (estimate)
On sale: September
The biog
Title: General Practitioner with a speciality in cardiology
Previous jobs: Worked in well-known hospitals Jaslok and Breach Candy in Mumbai, India
Education: Medical degree from the Government Medical College in Nagpur
How it all began: opened his first clinic in Ajman in 1993
Family: a 90-year-old mother, wife and two daughters
Remembers a time when medicines from India were purchased per kilo
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
Cinco in numbers
Dh3.7 million
The estimated cost of Victoria Swarovski’s gem-encrusted Michael Cinco wedding gown
46
The number, in kilograms, that Swarovski’s wedding gown weighed.
1,000
The hours it took to create Cinco’s vermillion petal gown, as seen in his atelier [note, is the one he’s playing with in the corner of a room]
50
How many looks Cinco has created in a new collection to celebrate Ballet Philippines’ 50th birthday
3,000
The hours needed to create the butterfly gown worn by Aishwarya Rai to the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.
1.1 million
The number of followers that Michael Cinco’s Instagram account has garnered.
Company profile
Company name: Fasset
Started: 2019
Founders: Mohammad Raafi Hossain, Daniel Ahmed
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: $2.45 million
Current number of staff: 86
Investment stage: Pre-series B
Investors: Investcorp, Liberty City Ventures, Fatima Gobi Ventures, Primal Capital, Wealthwell Ventures, FHS Capital, VN2 Capital, local family offices
Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus
Developer: Sucker Punch Productions
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Console: PlayStation 2 to 5
Rating: 5/5
If you go
There are regular flights from Dubai to Addis Ababa with Ethiopian Airlines with return fares from Dh1,700. Nashulai Journeys offers tailormade and ready made trips in Africa while Tesfa Tours has a number of different community trekking tours throughout northern Ethiopia. The Ben Abeba Lodge has rooms from Dh228, and champions a programme of re-forestation in the surrounding area.
ACC T20 Women’s Championship
UAE fixtures
Friday, June 17 v Oman
Saturday, June 18 v Singapore
Monday, June 20 v Malaysia
Wednesday, June 22 v Qatar
Friday, June 24, semi-final
Saturday, June 25, final
UAE squad: Chaya Mughal (captain), Esha Oza, Indhuja Nandakumar, Kavisha Kumari, Khushi Sharma, Lavanya Keny, Priyanjali Jain, Rithika Rajith, Samaira Dharnidharka, Sanchin Singh, Siya Gokhale, Suraksha Kotte, Theertha Satish, Vaishnave Mahesh
COMPANY PROFILE
Company: Educatly
Started: 2020
Based: UAE
Founders: Mohmmed El Sonbaty, Joan Manuel and Abdelrahman Ayman
Industry: Education technology
Funding size: $2 million
Investors: Enterprise Ireland, Egypt venture, Plus VC, HBAN, Falak Startups
TWISTERS
Director:+Lee+Isaac+Chung
Starring:+Glen+Powell,+Daisy+Edgar-Jones,+Anthony+Ramos
Rating:+2.5/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Klipit
Started: 2022
Founders: Venkat Reddy, Mohammed Al Bulooki, Bilal Merchant, Asif Ahmed, Ovais Merchant
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Digital receipts, finance, blockchain
Funding: $4 million
Investors: Privately/self-funded
COMPANY PROFILE
Company: Eco Way
Started: December 2023
Founder: Ivan Kroshnyi
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Electric vehicles
Investors: Bootstrapped with undisclosed funding. Looking to raise funds from outside
Kanye West
Ye — the rapper formerly known as Kanye West — has seen his net worth fall to $400 million in recent weeks. That’s a precipitous drop from Bloomberg’s estimates of $6.8 billion at the end of 2021.
Ye’s wealth plunged after business partners, including Adidas, severed ties with him on the back of anti-Semitic remarks earlier this year.
West’s present net worth derives from cash, his music, real estate and a stake in former wife Kim Kardashian’s shapewear firm, Skims.
Fifa World Cup Qatar 2022
First match: November 20
Final 16 round: December 3 to 6
Quarter-finals: December 9 and 10
Semi-finals: December 13 and 14
Final: December 18