Most South Pole expeditions are well underway. Whiteout conditions and flat light are troubling almost everyone, but the skiers are remaining on pace. Meanwhile, a mountaineer has announced plans for a South Pole push.
Crossings
Ashkay Nanavati enjoyed a morale boost on November 28, logging his best daily distance of 18km despite low visibility and some sastrugi. That puts him 247km deep in his 2,736km unsupported solo crossing.
Although he’s still pushing through relatively fresh snow, manhauling his monstrous 170kg sled, loaded with 110 days of supplies, has been easier this week than last. He’s still climbing, but the elevation change has lessened. As of this writing, he just crossed the 80th parallel.
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On November 26, Youngmi Kim reported problems with both of her compasses in the middle of a whiteout, noting that the difficulties made her feel “stuck.” The South Korean seems plagued by equipment issues, including problems with her ski skins earlier in the journey.
Youngmi Kim on November 26. Photo: Youngmi Kim
She didn’t mention compass issues again in later updates. That seems to be her pattern — she doesn’t necessarily report when an equipment failure is solved, so it’s hard to tell if she’s still struggling with her compasses.
However, her GPS tracking indicates she’s still on course and averaging about 18km per day. She’s skied 409km out of the 1,700km slated for her unsupported solo crossing. She crossed 83˚S on November 26.
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Hercules Inlet to the South Pole
Indian skier Satish Gogineni began his unsupported solo from Hercules Inlet to the Pole on Monday, reporting an “absolutely brutal” day. He covered 15km and gained approximately 500m vertical. His update from day three was more positive, noting beautiful weather and (slightly) easier manhauling of his 126kg sled. The Hercules Inlet to South Pole route is about 1,130km.
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Rasmus Kragh of Denmark reached the polar plateau yesterday on day six of his solo unsupported Hercules Inlet to South Pole expedition. So far, he’s scratched off 95km, averaging nearly 16km per day with a 130kg sled.
Catherine Buford is also a week in and halfway between the 80th and 81st parallel. Like the other skiers on this route, she’s faced soft snow and sastrugi in the last seven uphill days. She celebrated her 44th birthday with some birthday cake and an in-tent margarita. She’s periodically reported flat light and whiteouts, making sastrugi difficult to see.
“Fell over twice,” she noted in her day five audio recording. “But nothing dramatic. Got myself back up again and just carried on.”
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A little over a week in, Karen Kyllesø is on track to cross the 81st parallel today. Her expedition is progressing smoothly. She’s reported all the same conditions as the others, but her sled only weighs 100kg.
“Everything is going well with equipment, and [I’m feeling] strong and in good shape,” she recorded on day six.
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Speed record try?
Retired mountaineer Kristin Harila announced this week plans to make a solo unsupported South Pole journey. While details are scarce, in an Instagram post on November 22, she noted her journey will be 1,130km long. That indicates she’ll do the Hercules Inlet route.
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Although Harila became known in 2023 for completing all 14 of the 8,000m peaks in a record 92 days, her background is in cross-country skiing. It is possible she will try to break the women’s speed record from Hercules Inlet to the Pole, set last year by Preet Chandi.
Messner Start to South Pole
Travelers on the 911km Messner Start to South Pole route are also reporting whiteouts. Ali Riza Bilal is skiing hard and attempting to break a self-imposed 20km per day goal but has so far topped out at 19km per day. He passed the 83rd parallel yesterday and has logged 110km as of this writing.
Photo: Ali Riza Bilal
Bilal reported blisters on his feet and a stove malfunction earlier in the week. He’s currently using his backup stove. He also reported issues with his ski poles (he did not provide details), and one of his two thermoses is somehow non-functional (again, no details). Near-constant whiteouts have made charging his devices difficult, so he’s being fairly terse with his updates.
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John Huntington has skied 109km since beginning a week ago. “It still feels pretty tricky,” he recorded on November 28. The skier suffered a brain bleed in 2014, which left him with neurological damage along his left side. That injury is making it difficult to navigate sastrugi.
“My left leg, which is the injured one, doesn’t generate nearly enough force to get a knee and the pole moving over one of these little divots. So I have to be pretty careful that I’m positioned correctly to get myself up and over them,” he reported in an audio update. The flat light he’s encountered so far isn’t helping.
But, he notes, he’s happy with the distance he’s covered in the last few days. He should finish the day’s skiing roughly halfway between the 83 and 84th parallels.
Berkner Island to South Pole
Frederick Fennessy is 14 days and 291km into his 1,400km journey to the Pole from Berkner Island. That averages out to roughly 20km per day.
“It’s been a hard couple of days. The sun has been out, so I’ve been getting up a little bit earlier to capitalize on the hard snow in the mornings. It’s been good…pretty exhausted when I get back into the tent. The beautiful simplicity [of skiing] comes with a huge amount of intensity, I’ve found, and it’s definitely taking some getting used to,” Fennessy reported on his 13th night.
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