Arne-Kristian Teigland, who was on pace to grab the men’s Hercules Inlet to South Pole speed record, fainted yesterday and was evacuated. Norwegian Kristin Harila has also ended her solo, unsupported speed effort after weeks of struggling with a back injury. Youngmi Kim has reached the South Pole, resupplied, and made the turn for the final part of her inland crossing. And skiers along the Hercules Inlet and Messner Start routes are nearing the Pole.
Crossings
“I feel like I finally got back into a polar rhythm after a very tough week,” American Ashkay Nanavati recorded recently. “Last week was brutal. I mean, absolutely brutal. There were a few unplanned half-days, there was an unplanned recovery day, it was very challenging both mentally and physically.”
The source of Nanavati’s exhaustion — aside from manhauling enough gear to complete his 2,736km solo, unsupported, full crossing in 110 to 115 days — is a recent storm that dumped several inches of soft snow into his path. But Nanavati noted that conditions are improving once again. With the hardships of the last week, Nanavati’s daily pace has continued to hover at 14.5km/day. He’s currently 53.5 days and 773km into his full crossing.
Nanavati’s tracker. Photo: Screenshot
South Korean Youngmi Kim’s solo, supported inland crossing passed a huge milestone this week. The skier reached the South Pole, resupplied, and turned sharply toward her endpoint at the Ross Ice Shelf.
Youngmi Kim at the Pole. Photo: Youngmi Kim
While her photos from the Pole show an ecstatic Kim holding her skis aloft and waving the South Korean flag, her text update was more measured.
“Receipt of supplies from the South Pole to Leverett Glacier, and a new route to 89 degrees latitude begins today!” she wrote.
The South Korean has skied 1,294km in 56.5 days, with just over 400km left to go.
Youngmi Kim’s tracker. Photo: Screenshot
Hercules Inlet to the South Pole
Yesterday, Arne-Kristian (AK) Teigland’s social media account announced that the Norwegian’s speed record attempt along the Hercules Inlet to South Pole route had ended.
“The expedition to the South Pole ended with a little drama, January 2. AK got sick during the march and fainted on the ice. He found the tent and alerted ALE that was [sic] about to fly him out. He’s going to a medical at Union Glacier and is doing well,” the post read.
Manager Lars Ebbesen has also confirmed to ExplorersWeb that Teigland is “doing fine.”
Tiegland skied 932km of the 1,130km route, staying slightly ahead of Frenchman Vincent Colliard’s camps from last season. Colliard managed the run in 22 days, 6 hours, and 8 minutes — a record that will now stand at least until next year. With just 200km — just a few days — before finishing, Tiegland will be deeply disappointed.
Teigland’s tracker. Photo: Screenshot
After suffering a back injury early in her expedition, then skiing through the pain until she ran out of painkillers, Norwegian Kristin Harila has decided to end her solo, unsupported pole push.
“Choosing to end the expedition after 20 days was a very difficult decision. Part of me wants to continue this adventure. The other part of me is trying to listen to the advice of doctors and think long-term,” she said.
While she never formally announced her intentions to beat Preet Chandi’s 31-day, 13-hour, 19-minute record from last year, it appeared that was indeed her intention. Harila’s daily kilometer averages were just under where they needed to be, and she consistently logged 45km+ days in the week before she quit.
Hege Victoria’s updates from her attempt on the same record remain sparse. There’s no publicly available tracking map, and her last update to her website was from day nine of her expedition, nearly two weeks ago. However, a Norwegian-language Instagram account that has been following Norwegian Antarctic expeditions this year showed a graphic that placed Victoria at 579km on day 16. That’s 36km a day, so almost exactly on pace with Chandi. But that was six days ago.
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Satish Gogineni needs to make the Pole in 10 days, so he’s continuing to pick up his pace despite a few cloudy, low-visibility days. On day 41, he managed to log 30km.
“The next three or four days are going to be challenging,” he noted. “Lots of elevation gain, lots of sastrugi.”
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Danish skier Rasmus Kragh has turned up the gas, logging 30km+ days for the last five days. According to his most recent Facebook post, the skier made the decision to do so after counting out his supplies on day 29 and realizing he’d either need to ration carefully or increase his daily distance.
“Went into a cycle — 30km, then a minimum of 6 hours of sleep, regardless of the time of the day. The sun is just running around in circles over my head. I released myself from the mental barrier, and it feels amazing,” he wrote.
“A new year and a new degree for me,” UK skier Catherine Buford said the evening after she crossed the 87th parallel. Buford’s been battling sastrugi as she closes in on the pole. But she has still managed to edge her overall daily average up to 19.5km, up from last week’s 18km.
Buford’s tracking map. Photo: Screenshot
Norwegian Karen Kylleso has also slightly picked up steam, increasing her average to 20.2km over last week’s 19.5km. She’s 872km in as day 43 draws to a close, and she’s creeping up on the 88th parallel.
Kylleso’s tracker. Photo: Screenshot
Messner Start to South Pole
Turkish skier Ali Riza Bilal has traveled 759km of the Messner Start’s 911km and is nearing the end of his equipment-failure-prone expedition.
Bilal’s latest setback, however, wasn’t gear-related. The skier took a major turn off course, visible on the tracking map below (just to the right of the audio volume symbol). Luckily, an employee of ZeroSixZero, the tracking map application commonly used by Antarctic expeditions, noticed the turn and notified Bilal’s wife, who told the skier.
Bilal is now back on track and still managing to put in 20km days.
Bilal’s tracker. Photo: Screenshot
Englishman John Huntington has crossed the 89th parallel and is now on a straight shot for the geographical bottom of the world. At 816km as of day 43, Huntington has less than 100km to go.
The skier experienced plunging temperatures and high winds on day 41. He had to wear his full cold-weather getup for the first time.
Huntington’s tracker. Photo: Screenshot
Berkner Island to South Pole
At 1,147km, English skier Frederick Fennessy is only 250km away from completing his 1,400km Berkner Island to South Pole expedition. It’s taken him 49 days so far, at a respectable average of 23.4km per day.
Fennessey experienced a “humbling and arduous” day this week, with whiteout conditions combining with sastrugi to make “skiing incredibly slow.” Fennessy said he fell over more times than he can count and spent the bulk of his day righting his tipped sled. He also noted the increasingly cold temperatures as he nears the Pole.
Fennessy’s tracker. Photo: Screenshot
Constellation Inlet to Mt. Vinson Summit
James McAlloon and guide Robert Smith’s Constellation Inlet to Mt. Vinson summit expedition is 14 days and 210km deep — meaning the team is on the mountain and about to swap their sleds for backpacks. In a January 1 audio update, Smith said the pair were planning an acclimatization rest day on January 2. From there, the mountaineering begins.
Mcalloon’s tracker. Photo: Screenshot
