The South Pole. Centre of the Antarctic continent, a land mass of 8 million square miles (14 million square km) of the most remote, inhospitable and unforgiving terrain known to man. The largest desert on the face of the earth.
In November 2010, a team of 6 fit, highly motivated Britons will walk, unsupported and each hauling sledges weighing up to 90kg to the South Pole to reclaim the record...
460 miles of sub-zero temperatures with wind chill reaching as low as -40 C. Headwinds of up to 50 miles an hour, glaciers, crevasses, sastrugi (ice waves), mental isolation and monotony. All these need to be overcome in order to set a new record time for an assault on the Pole via the Beardmore Glacier route - traditionally the British gateway to the Pole.
Background
In 1910, Captain Robert Scott and his party sailed from the UK and landed in Antarctica in preparation for their ultimately doomed attempt to reach the Pole. It was a year later that shortly after reaching their goal, Scott and 4 of his companions perished on the return journey having found that Norwegian, Roald Amundsen had beaten them to the prize.
99 years since the great expeditions to claim the pole, it is time for the British to again claim their rightful place at the forefront of Antarctic endeavour. A tough challenge in normal conditions. This is not a race between teams. This is man against himself, nature and against the hardest rival conceivable - the clock.
The Route
Team Best of British will attempt to cover 460 miles over the Beardmore Glacier to the Pole at record pace – no mean feat in normal conditions. While recent races have covered a similar distance, the true record is from the edge of continent to the Pole itself. The shortest distance, from the base of the Axel Heiberg glacier, was employed by Amundsen during his successful attempt in on the Pole in 1911/12.
The route the team are taking is that used by Scott during his successful but ultimately doomed expedition – an ascent of the Beardmore Glacier. This route more difficult to access than almost anywhere else on the continent, thus fewer men have traversed the Beardmore Glacier than have stood on the surface of the moon – a sobering thought.
The Beardmore Glacier, 120nm long, 25miles wide and crevasse covered every foot of the way. It rises from sea level to a lofty 2200m above over its course and leads directly to the Antarctic plateau. This is an awesome barrier which will provide a massive challenge to the team.
More Information
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Web: www.bestofbritishsouthpole.com
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