Mike Horn saved his traverse - Ryan Waters team at the Pole

Outbound from the South Pole are the British team, Johanna Davidsson, and Risto Hallikainen. Solo skiers inbound are doing well. Medical issues.

Ryan Waters (US) guiding for Mountain Professionals: Katrina Follows (England, lives in Chamonix), Paul Adams (USA) and Scott Kress (CA) arrived at the South Pole 2016-12-30 Time: 21:17Z as reported in the previous update. They skied 44 days on the Fuchs-Messner route, 890 km in a straight line. Part of their group went over to the ceremony at the South Pole base to see the new 2017 Geographic South Pole marker put in the ground. The Pole marker moves 10 meters per year away from 90ºS with the movement of the ice. They flew back to Union Glacier, and there was a possibility to get an Ilyushin flight to Punta Arenas soon after arrival at UG.

Interactive Map: Antarctica Skiing Routes

2016-17 Antarctica Ski Expedition List – updated

S70.1015 W009.8249 start point, unassisted kite-support Start December 12, 2016, Mike Horn ZA/CH: He used as much wind as he could and covered 216, 220 and 112 km the past three days. On December 31 he did not stop to eat or drink. “I stopped at 23:00 pitched my tent, packed my kite, and then I discovered my cooking pot was not in the sled. I looked at the back and saw a tear through the cover and it must have of fallen out anywhere along the 220km. Without a pot and a stove I cannot melt snow. So no water or food!? Disappointed at first I wanted to get into the tent because I was cold. Should I turn back and go and look for it? This is a custom made pot with my stove integrated, my cup, spoon, pocket knife and whip to mix my food…all lost in one go! So I came up with a solution. [see top images to the left] No turning back!” Latest position, S 84 00 E 10 20.

Hercules Inlet 80ºS Return Journey

Risto Hallikainen (FI) started his return journey from the Pole to Hercules Inlet (1130 km) on December 30th. Inbound to the Pole, he has left himself depots. The nearest one is at 88 degrees. The return and traverse skiers have to be at their end points by January 27, when ALE closes the season. Latest position for Risto, Jan 2, 2017, 11:43:00 AM Elevation: 2,790.28 m, Lat: -89.346066 Lon: -089.216688.

Solo Female World Record holder, Johanna Davidson (SE), started her kite-ski return on December 29, woman-hauling as there was no wind. Yesterday, when the wind picked up, she covered 73 km. She is encountering more sastrugi and is “taking it easy”. Location Date: 2017-01-02 Time: 05:12 Latitude: -88.673336 Longitude: -88.374238, Altitude: 2723 meter.

Lou Rudd (leader), Oliver Stoten, Chris Brooke, Alex Brazier and James Facer-Childs (ALL UK) traverse to Shackleton Glacier: The team crossed 89 degrees South on their traverse to the bottom of the Shackleton Glacier on the Ross Ice Self. They are in a 10-hour ski routine again and covered 14.4 nm, latest report, in very deep snow. They are still gaining altitude as they climb the edge of Titan Dome. Chris reported in a post that he was weighed at the SP and has lost 13.5 kg, almost as much as the additional weight he had gained before the trip. The first two days out of the Pole, his legs were still sore, but have fully recovered now. The toe bar of his boot broke. They fixed it, but it broke again. He had to walk in the deep snow. Alex hooked on his sled and they double hailed to speed up the pace.

Hercules Inlet 80ºS unassisted unsupported to the Pole

Sébastien Lapierre (CA) solo, is through the notorious sastrugi fields in 87 degrees. Location January 2, 2017, 3:47 PM, S 88 0.5288′ W 82 27.5838′, elev 2647.

Małgorzata Wojtaczka (PL): The solo lady reported, after 6 weeks sledge-hauling to the Pole, she still feels well, “there is basically nothing wrong with me.” Her equipment is still doing a good job and she hasn’t had a serious problem. She says her expedition might seem monotonous, but in contrary, she found it the opposite. It is white, but the terrain changes several times a day, which requires her constant attention and continuous search for a conveniont route. In addition the weather can change very quickly. Long hours of “white darkness”, as she calls the white-outs, still require going forward. She also enjoys the different shapes of the clouds in the place she has so long dreamt of, she says. On December 31, Malgorzata reported that she was crossing into 86 degrees.

Reedy Glacier 85ºS unassisted. Eric Philips (AU) guide, Rob Smith (UK) and Keith Tuffley: the men took a rest day to recover from medical problems. Eric had problems with breathing, a swollen eyelid and frostbitten fingertips, and ran out of energy, while Keith was snowblind. Jan. 2 reported location, Elevation: 2908 m, Latitude: 88° 37’ 18” South Longitude: 127° 47’ 49” West.

Hercules Inlet to South Pole – emergency assisted, Emma Kelty (UK) is probably a day or two away from the Pole. She does not give exact locations. She has a bad cough. [Update: she crossed 89 degrees South on January 1.]

Rerun – AdventureStats Special: What is Solo?

Queen Maud Land climbing: Patrick “Pata” Degerman (Fi, leader), Pekka Ojanpää (FI), Mika Listala (FI), and Jón Ólafur Magnusson (IS) Pata reported that after the decision to turn around, the guys who had been sitting in FD83, which is a fuel depot camp 750km from the Pole, also decided to drive back to Novo. “They were travelling with three cars, and after a couple of hours we heard that one of their cars broke down. They could not fix it, so they continued with two. It was a nice small get together on the ice. They hadn’t seen people for five weeks. They helped to carry some of our gear and our broken sledge back to Novo.” The the snowmobile team was caught in a storm. After spending a very cold 20 hours on their snowmobiles, they were snowed in near the mountains and sat in their tents for two days. The wind was so loud they had to wear ear plugs. At minus 42 they had to put boots on to get snow to melt, and dig out the tents. Their snowmobiles were totally covered with snow. Tomorrow they will move their camp to the mountains.

Explorersweb/Pythom wishing everybody a year full of happy and safe adventures!

Follow team blogs in the Dispatch stream on pythom.com

South Pole 2016-17 Interviews on Explorersweb/Pythom:

Exweb South Pole Interview with Johanna Davidsson: kite return attempt

Interview with Pata Degerman: Longest Snowmobile attempt on Antarctica

[UPDATE 2] Risto Hallikainen, solo South Pole return ski attempt (Interview)

1989: Arved Fuchs traversed Antarctica, with Messner (Interview)

Ryan Waters to guide Fuchs-Messner route (Antarctica 2016-17 interview)

Canadian Sébastien Lapierre to attempt solo ski to South Pole (Interview)

Cycle Antarctica: Hank van Weelden Pole to Coast attempt (Interview)

Emma Kelty: speed ski and return attempt (Exweb South Pole interview)

Eric Philips, South Pole 2016-17 New Start Point attempt (Interview)

Previous/Related on Explorersweb/Pythom:

Exweb/Pythom Best of 2016: Girard’s Flight of the Century… and more

UPDATED: Johanna calling in; Risto at the Pole; medical assessments

Johanna Davidsson set New Solo Female Speed Record

Editorial: Might is The Answer to Why (Updated)

Antarctica Current: Polar How-To-Guide Heads-Up

HumanEdgeTech Expedition Technology (e.g.CONTACT software)

AdventureStats.com for Polar Statistics and Rules. Note that a solo claim has to be unassisted,

therefore no supplies carried by pilots or car drivers, or anything (food, fuel, etc) received from any person along the way. A solo person may be wind supported (kites/sails). Claiming to have ‘skied to the Pole’, a full route (from a coastal start point) has to be completed, without flying part of the route.

1 nautical mile = 1,852 km

Hercules Inlet is located at 80°S near Union Glacier, 1130 km from the Geographic South Pole.

The Fuchs-Messner start is 890 km in a straight line from the Pole.

Novo to GSP is 2,140 km in a straight line

Novolazarevskaya to South Pole of Inaccessibility (POI) is 1610 km in a straight line.

South Pole of Inaccessibility (POI):

2011-12 position: S82°06.696, E055°01.951 (Copeland/McNair-Landry)

On Dec. 14, 2014 Frédéric Dion reported the position the POI (at Lenin’s bust) as S82º 06.702′ E55º 2.087′ at an elevation of 3741 m.

Geographic South Pole (GSP): 90 degrees South

Gateway port Cape Town, South Africa:

To ALCI /TAC base camp Novolazarevskaya / Novo

70° 46’37”S, 011° 49’26”E