Probably the most challenging of the planned South Pole excursions will be undertaken by Brit Chris Foot, who plans to make a solo-unassisted journey to the Pole on skis that will begin and end at Hercules Inlet. Yep, that's right, Chris hopes to not only reach 90ºS, he then intends to turn around and ski back to where he started. This has never been accomplished before and will take a monumental effort to cover the 1392 miles through the harsh and demanding conditions in Antarctica. Chris is already in Punta Arenas and hopes to be heading out on his expedition soon. Read his dispatches here.
Making her return to the South Pole is Hannah McKeand, who made a solo and unassisted expedition to the Pole back in 2007, setting a speed record at the time. She'll now be guiding other polar explorers who will be relying on her experience in the region. According to ExWeb, Hannah has made three trips to the South Pole with two starting at Hercules and one at the Messner Start.
A ten man team from the Indian Army will be making an unassisted/unsupported journey to the Pole as well. They'll be guided by Devon McDiarmid and they'll be posting dispatches which you can follow by clicking here. Additionally, ExWeb has the scoop on several scientific expeditions that are heading to the Antarctic, each with unique goals and objectives, with the impact of climate changing being chief amongst them.
The Moon-Regan Expedition is set to finally get underway as well. I've mentioned this one on more than one occasion, it's the scientific team that will be traveling 5795km (3600 miles) across the continent in a biofueled snow buggy that can cruise along at speeds in excess of 128 km/hr (80 mph). The team will have a driver in their experimental vehicle and two other support vehicles carrying an additional ten team members. Those vehicles are described as mobile laboratories which the team will use to collect data on the environment as they go.
There will also be plenty of climbers heading to Mt. Vinson, and some other peaks. Climbers with aspirations of bagging the Seven Summits will have their sights set on topping out on Vinson's summit. That's where Alan Arnette will be heading as he begins his quest for Seven Summits as a fund raising effort to find a cure for Alzheimer's. Alan will head out to Chile on Nov. 24.
According to ExWeb the first flights out to Patriot Hills are scheduled to take place on Friday, Nov. 12th, weather permitting. If they go off on schedule, expect the teams to spend an additional day or two there before getting underway, but it looks like we'll be getting updates from the Antarctic as early as next week.
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