Norwegian speedster Hege Victoria is “a few kilometers ahead” of the current women’s Hercules Inlet to South Pole record, with a likely finish over the weekend. Ashkay Nanavati’s full crossing attempt ended with a medical evac. Meanwhile, non-record-attempt skiers are approaching the finish line.
Crossings
American Ashkay Nanavati’s solo, unsupported, full crossing has finished less than one-third of the way into his journey. Nanavati was evacuated after 60 days and 803km of his proposed 115-day, 2,736km expedition across the full Antarctic landmass via the South Pole.
Nanavati is now back at Union Glacier, being treated for diverticulitis, an inflammation of the pouches along the wall of the large intestine. This condition was likely the cause of the back and gut pain Nanavati reported throughout the week.
Nanavati came within a whisker of being medically evacuated days earlier, only getting the go-ahead from the Antarctic Logistics & Expeditions doctor after the symptoms he was experiencing abated slightly.
During that time, Nanavati had fallen into a pattern: A full day of skiing, a half day of skiing, and then a full recovery day. Although he recognized that his crossing was “an impossibility,” he hoped to put in as much time as possible on the ice. You can see his palpable disappointment in the video below, recorded while he waited for evacuation.
View this post on Instagram
Kim nears her finish
After resupplying at the South Pole last week, South Korean Youngmi Kim is on the home stretch of her solo, supported inland crossing. After 1,483km of her route’s 1,700km, she’s inching closer and closer to her destination at the base of the Leverett Glacier.
Youngmi Kim’s tracker. Photo: Screenshot
Hercules Inlet to the South Pole
As Norwegian Hege Victoria gets closer to the Pole in her speed record attempt along the 1,130km Hercules Inlet route, her team’s updates have become more frequent. Victoria is attempting to beat Preet Chandi’s 31-day, 13-hour, 19-minute effort from last year. At last word four days ago, her team said she was “a few kilometers ahead” of Chandi.
In the last week, she’s powered through whiteout, elevation gain, and sastrugi, but is coming to a portion of the route where the last two factors should abate. Look for a finish sometime this weekend — probably Saturday, December 11.
View this post on Instagram
Indian skier Satish Gogineni recently crossed the 89th parallel and is roughly 109km from the Pole. He’ll likely reach it over the weekend as well, if he stays on his current pace of approximately 30km a day.
View this post on Instagram
Danish skier Rasmus Kragh’s 30km, 6-hours of sleep, 30km cycle continues. He recently crossed the 88th parallel with 237km to go. The ordinarily verbose Kragh has been a bit sparser in his recent updates as he focuses on daily kilometers, rest, and reaching the Pole.
UK skier Catherine Buford will end today just shy of the 89th parallel, having skied 1,005km as of this writing. Like most other skiers, she continues to improve her overall daily average. Over the last three weeks, she’s increased from 18km to just under 20km a day.
Buford’s tracking map. Photo: Screenshot
Speaking of the 89th parallel, Norwegian Karen Kylleso crossed it late yesterday and has just under 100km to go. At her current pace, that puts her about five days away from the South Pole.
Kylleso’s tracker. Photo: Screenshot
Messner Start to South Pole
Turkish skier Ali Riza Bilal will likely reach the Pole today or tomorrow. After recovering from a minor navigational error last week, Bilal has made good time and is somewhere between 20 and 30km from his destination.
Bilal’s tracker. Photo: Screenshot
John Huntington reached the Pole after 45 days of consistent skiing. Huntington suffered a debilitating stroke 10 years ago, leaving him with left-side paralysis from the neck down and many years of rehab to regain his mobility. This made dealing with sastrugi a particular challenge. But he averaged 20km a day when all was said and done.
His last update before reaching the finish was dry and typical.
“I’m quite looking forward to some fresh food,” he said, “and being able to use a real toilet again would be a real treat.”
View this post on Instagram
Berkner Island to South Pole
Frederick Fennessy of the UK is also nearing the end of his 1,400km expedition to the Pole from Berkner Island. He’s currently skied 1,349km in 56.5 days. His last update was on January 2, where he noted slow progress through sastrugi. If he stays on pace, he’ll finish over the weekend.
Fennessy’s tracker. Photo: Screenshot
Constellation Inlet to Mt. Vinson Summit
On January 5, James McAlloon and guide Robert Smith reached a milestone in their Constellation Inlet to Mt. Vinson summit expedition. The pair summited Vinson, the tallest mountain in Antarctica at 4,892m.
“We ended up taking a more direct, much steeper route [than we had originally planned],” McAlloon wrote on January 6.
The pair considered climbing a few other peaks along the way, but McAlloon was “having a few breathing problems yesterday,” so they opted out. McAlloon added that his breathing has since returned to normal.
