Polar explorers complete first unassisted traverse of Antarctica

by Kraig Becker on

Late last week, American Ryan Waters and Norwegian Cecilie Skog became the first team to make an unsupported/unassisted traverse of the Antarctic continent, covering more than 840 miles beginning at Berkner Island and ending at the Ross Ice Shelf, with a stop at the South Pole along the way.

The pair set off on their journey back on November 13 of last year and reached their final destination 70 days later on January 21. Over the course of those many days out on the ice, they frequently had to deal with high winds, whiteout conditions, and bitter cold, sometimes dropping as low as -40º F. As if dealing with the weather wasn’t challenging enough, they also had to endure the altitude (Antarctica is the highest continent on Earth) and massive sastrugi, hard waves of drifting snow that form on top of the ice.

Ryan and Cecilie made the journey on skies, while dragging all of their supplies and gear behind them in specially designed sleds. In order for this expedition to be classified as “unsupported” they had to make the journey without ever receiving a supply drop along the way, and to earn the distinction as “unassisted”, they had to finish the trip completely under their own power. Previous traverses of Antarctic were done through the use of dog sled teams or by using massive kites to pull the explorers across the snow.

The duo spent about a day and a half at their final destination along the Ross Ice Shelf before being picked up by a specially designed aircraft. They’ve now returned to Punta Arenas, Chile where they are enjoying fine food and warm beds for the first time in two months.%Gallery-79934%

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17-year old climber nabs Seven Summits

by Kraig Becker on

17-year old mountaineer Johnny Collinson of Snowbird, Utah has become the youngest person to climb all the Seven Summits by topping out on Mt. Vinson, the highest peak in Antarctica. The teenager reached the summit, which stands at 16,067 feet, on Monday, completing a quest to reach the top of the highest peaks on all seven continents.

Collinson is still in Antarctica and hasn’t posted to his website yet, but he was climbing with a team led by guide service Mountain Madness who updated their own blog with the news of the team’s success. Johnny was joined on the summit by three other climbers as well as well known guide Willie Benegas. And as if reaching the summit wasn’t enough, the young man elected to ski back down the mountain to their campsite.

The Seven Summits have become one of the top goals for climbers and adventurers around the planet. Besides Vinson, the peaks consist of Kilimanjaro in Africa (19,340 feet), Elbrus in Europe (18,510 feet), Denali in North America (20,320 feet), Aconcagua in South America (22,841 feet), Carstenz Pyramid in Oceana (16,023 feet), and of course Everest in Asia (29,029 feet). That tallest mountain in Australia is Kosciusko, but that peak is just 7310 feet in height and is a simple walk-up, so the list was expanded to include the taller and more technically challenging Carstenz Pyramid, located in Indonesia. Most of the climbers who complete the Seven Summits actually go for all eight peaks just to cover their bases.

Collinson may not hold on to this record for long. 13-year old Jordan Romero will be going to Everest this spring to make his bid on that mountain, and if successful there, he’ll head to Vinson in the fall as well. If he nabs both summits, he’ll be just 14-years old when he is done.

Sailor spends 1000 days at sea

by Kraig Becker on

Back on April 21st, 2007, American sailor Reid Stowe set sail from New York City on a unique, and challenging voyage. Dubbed the Mars Ocean Odyssey, the plan was for Stowe, along with his companion Soanya Ahmad, to head out onto the open ocean, and spend 1000 straight days there, without stopping for resupply or ever setting foot on land. The voyage was meant to demonstrate the feasibility of a prolonged spaceflight, such as a journey to Mars, and today marks Stowe’s 1000th day at sea.

The voyage has not been without its hardships. Just a few days after setting out, Stowe’s ship, a schooner named Anne, strayed into a U.S. Navy missile test range off the New Jersey Coast and a few weeks after that, the vessel collided with a cargo ship, and suffered damage to its bowsprit. But perhaps the biggest setback was when Ahmad was forced to leave the expedition off the coast of Australia 305 days in. At the time, it was reported that she had “debilitating sea sickness”, but It was later revealed that she was pregnant. She has since given birth to the couple’s first child, a boy named Darshen, who was conceived at sea.

Stowe continued the voyage alone, blogging his experiences at sea, and chasing his dream of proving that prolonged space travel is possible. In the process, he also set a record for the longest solo sea expedition ever, and as of today, he has achieved his other goal of spending 1000 days at sea, without resupply. An impressive feat to say the least.

You would think that after a thousand days at sea, the sailor would be eager to get home and meet his son. But Stowe has elected to stay out on the ocean for a few more months. High winds and poor weather conditions make a return to New Your City a challenging prospect at the moment, so instead, he’ll wait until June, when calmer weather will allow him to return much more safely.

After all those months at sea, what’s another six?

Safe travels to Antarctica, Andrew Evans!

by Grant Martin on

Have you checked in with our colleague, friend and hero Andrew Evans lately? He’s on the Bus(es) to Antarctica right now, a long, slow journey from his home in Washington DC all of the way to the southern tip of the planet Earth. By bus. Or rather, a series of slow, crawling behemoths from which he’ll be blogging, tweeting and reflecting over the course of the next several weeks. Fox 5 in DC picked up the trail late this week, with Andrew in Central America and working on his sexy beard. Take some time to with him well on his Twitter feed at @bus2antarctica or over at National Geographic’s Intelligent Travel Blog.

Aussies find frozen plane in Antarctica

by Tom Johansmeyer on

We all complain about flight delays, but nothing tops the one that’s been waiting close to 100 years to be discovered. An Australian research team just discovered what’s left of the first plane ever to fly to Antarctica. It hit the ground in 1912 … and has been waiting ever since. The discovery wasn’t an accident. The guys from the Mawson’s Huts Foundation have been looking for it for the last three summers. In a sign that 2010 is going to kick ass for these folks, they found some metal pieces of the plane on New Year’s Day.

According to USA Today, Tony Stewart, a member of the team, wrote on his blog, “The biggest news of the day is that we’ve found the air tractor, or at least parts of it!”

Early last century, Australian explorer Douglas Mawson took the helm of two expeditions to Antarctica. On the first of the two, he brought a Vickers plane with him, but the wings were damaged in a crash before the team set out for Antarctica. Thought it would never take flight, Mawson hoped to use it as a motorized sled of sorts. The engine couldn’t handle the temperature extremes, though, so Mawson left it behind.

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