Stove efficiency allows you to travel with less fuel, reducing crucial weight and saving time spent on the daily routine of melting snow. Every extra minute spent in the sleeping bag adds to the recovery of your body. And saving weight on fuel obviously adds to the speed of travel. It is easy to understand why the expedition is interested in optimizing the fuel efficiency of the stove.

Earlier explorers like Nansen, Amundsen, and Scott were also aware of this advantage. Through the years, many stove housings have been designed and used to reduce heat loss. Together with colleague explorers, the expedition is engaging in a step-by-step redesigning process by which the stove's performance has been optimized with an insulating shield and heat exchange construction.

Year by year, expedition after expedition, the design has been modified and improved. Now the focus also is on the stove itself. The MSR XGK-II is a proven stove in arctic conditions. But the Snow Peak GS-010 might be more efficient and less noisy. The noise of an XGK-II comes close to that of a jet flying overhead. Although the noise is annoying when you want to make a call on the satellite phone, worse yet, it is also dangerous because you cannot hear if a polar bear is closing in on the camp. In April 2004 the Snow Peak stove will be put to test and compared to the MSR.