The South Pole: Solo but not Alone: This time we are really leaving!

Saturday, November 19, 2011

This time we are really leaving!

It's 9pm Saturday night, and I just got a call and now its on for real. WE have to be ready in 20 mins to fly to take opportunity of a weather window in Antarctica.... I have to rush.....

This is my last Blog posting using the luxury of 'normal' internet connections. Once I land in Antarctica I'm restricted to satellite phone communications, and so things will be quite different.

If you are wanting the most up to date and 'instant' news from the ice, this maybe a good time to switch to following me on 'My Diary", which you can find at http://blog.mailasail.com/southpolesolo . My daily position will appear on Google Earth on this site. The same info will be available on this blog, although there will be a slight delay in posting the daily reports. If thie delay isn't an issue for you, just continue tracking me on THIS blog. It's up to you...

Talk from Antarctica....

Hey ths is exciting!

4 comments:

AnonymousNovember 20, 2011 at 4:43 PM
Hey Howard:
Saw you arrived to a beautiful day! Great, Ros and I can feel the excitement. Get rested and charge your batteries.

Bob and Ros
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AnonymousNovember 21, 2011 at 5:31 AM
Hi Howard, hope you are on the ice shelf by now and into the swing of things. hope all goes well.Martin
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AnonymousNovember 21, 2011 at 9:38 AM
Hey Howard,I am thinking of you mate...hopefully you are on your way to the pole and making good time.
Peter and Pat
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Pete JonesNovember 21, 2011 at 4:36 PM
Hi Howard,look forward to sharing your experience.Travel safe with a clear mind.
Cheers
Pete
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The Expedition Overview

on 20th November 2011, Howard is scheduled to fly to a point 82'10"S 065'00"W on the Ronne Ice Shelf just off the Weddell Sea. This is the official, 'edge of continent', Messner start point, named after the famous Italian mountaineer and explorer, Reinhold Messner who in November 1989, almost accidently established this start point and the route to the Pole.

Leaving the Ronne Ice shelf, the route skirts the western edge of the massive Foundation Ice Stream and the Transantarctic Mountains, climbing gradually to reach the South Pole at 9300 feet (2835m). Being only 900 kilomteres, this is a shorter, steeper, less traveled and more committing route that the more popular ones following Scott and / or Amundsen expedition paths, from the Ross Ice shelf.

The conditions are hard and icy at the start,and there is always the danger of deadly crevasse, hidden by snow bridges. Sasstrugi, sharp irregular grooves in the snow, are hit or miss for most of the trek but tend to reduce in the last stretch of the trip, which becomes true ice desert wilderness. The low pressure in the South Pole can make the altitude feel more like 12,000 or 13,000 feet, which makes the physical exertion challenging.

Howard anticipates taking somewhere between 30 and 35 days to reach the Pole.