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Explorers reach heart of S Pole
22/01/2007 15:20 - (SA)
Sydney - A team of British and Canadian explorers endured seven weeks of howling winds and subzero temperatures to become the first expedition to reach the geographic centre of Antarctica on foot.
Dragging 120kg sleds, the team travelled more than 1 700km on foot or by kite ski to reach Antarctica's Point of Inaccessibility - the furthest point from any ocean - on January 19, according to a statement posted on the expedition's website.
Located more than 3 725 metres above sea level, the Pole of Inaccessibility was first visited in 1958 by Soviet explorers who reached the remote outpost in convoy of snow vehicles.
The team - led by Canadian Paul Landry - also includes Britons Rupert Longsdon, Rory Sweet and Henry Cookson.
The three Britons won the 2005 Polar Challenge, a competitive 350-mile race to the North Pole, with no Arctic experience. They then hired Landry, veteran polar explorer who has led numerous Arctic and Antarctic expeditions, to guide them to the former Soviet base.
It took the group 49 days to complete their journey from the Russian scientific base Novolazarevskaya, located on the Antarctic coast north-northwest of the Pole of Inaccessibility. They will now fly to another Russian base, Vostok, before travelling on to Cape Town.
The Pole of Inaccessibility lies some 870km northeast of the South Pole. It was first reached by Soviet explorers on December 14, 1958, and was used briefly as a meteorological research base.
On the Net:
http://www.teamn2i.com
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