South Pole - December 2009

I intend to ski to the South Pole in December 2009, in the height of the Antarctic summer, when conditions are (hopefully) at their least severe and we will benefit from constant daylight.

The exact timing and route to the South Pole will be determined after my trip to the North Pole. However, I have always been fascinated by the heroics of Scott and his team;- Wilson, Evans, Oates and Bowers, and hope to be able to re-trace their pioneering footsteps, at least in part.

Antarctica

Antarctica is a huge frozen continent, surrounded by oceans. It's land mass is nearly 9,000,000 square miles (14,000,000 km²). This is larger than Europe, nearly twice the size of Australia and larger than the US and Mexico combined. Antarctica is also the coldest (-90deg C), highest (average elevation = 2,500m, South Pole = 2,900m), windiest (up to 200mph), driest (average precipitation of only 2 inches per year) and iciest (thickest ice is 4,776m in depth) continent in the world.

The Key Risks

As with the Arctic, risks include hypothermia, frostnip and frostbite from the extreme cold, and snowblindness from the effects of the sun reflecting off the snow and the ice.

In addition, Antarctica presents different additional challenges and risks including crevasse fields on its many glaciers; sastrugi (sharp, irregular wind formed ridges in the snow and ice); a prevailing katabatic headwind that can reach speeds of up to 200mph; and, the debilitating effects of altitude.