Last week, reporting on the end of his 3,770km solo kite-ski expedition, Hoddi Tryggvason told ExplorersWeb that the Reedy Glacier had been hairy. O’Brady has confirmed this, battling a brutal headwind and a dangerously crevassed surface.
“Everything is high consequence here. I crossed over 1,000 crevasses in the last 48 hours. I nearly couldn’t get my tent up last night in the super high winds.”
Despite the adverse conditions, his daily distance totals still appear to be ticking up, and he covered over 35km on day 62. Now on day 64, he is just under halfway between 86° and 87°. With around 390km remaining to the South Pole, he could arrive in less than two weeks at his current pace. Of course, from there, he plans another 1,400km or so to his finish point on Berkner Island, and it is unclear how much food and fuel he has remaining.
“I’m exhausted, but pushing hard to try and get off this glacier before a major snowstorm hits in a few days,” O’Brady wrote in his most recent update.
O’Brady struggles with his tent in high winds. Photo: Colin O’Brady
Kite skiers
After leaving the South Pole, Matthieu Tordeur and Heidi Sevestre considered two routes toward the coast. They could take a “route that was scientifically very interesting, but little explored, poorly studied, and full of uncertainties: unpredictable winds, unknown surface conditions, potential crevasses, or a more familiar route, still relatively poorly mapped, used by skiers traveling from the Antarctic coast to the South Pole [the standard Hercules Inlet to South Pole route].”
They elected to take the Hercules Inlet route and use the radar they have been carrying to image deep ice layers and map the bedrock beneath the ice sheet as they travel.
So far, their new route has proven slow going, with “little wind, heavy cloud cover, and at times, complete whiteouts.” Powdery snow has made pulling the sleds more difficult, particularly with the 100 meters of cable Tordeur drags behind him.
They have just under 700km remaining of their 4,000km kite-ski journey that began at the Novo Station.
Matthieu Tordeur sets up scientific equipment. Photo: Under Antarctica
Hercules Inlet to the South Pole
Monet Izabeth has 153km left to the Pole, and covered 150km in the last week at an average of 21km per day. Now on the Antarctic plateau, she should finish before our next update.
Yesterday, Andrea Dorantes had 92km left, and after skiing 23.5km today, she has just under 69km to the finish line. With a slight closing kick, she could be finished in two days.
Other expeditions
Norwegian duo Kathinka and Emma Gyllenhammar completed the skiing portion of their journey (1,265km from Union Glacier to the South Pole) last week. Now they are kite-skiing the return leg.
In their most recent update on day 58 of their expedition, they reported tough flying conditions, with limited wind and no visibility. After a morning in their tent, the wind picked up at 5 pm.
“We tried to rig two ski sails so we could travel close together and not lose sight of each other in the fog, but there wasn’t enough wind for that,” they explained. “Instead, we set up our biggest kite on 50m lines. Emma flies the kite while Muttern [Kathinka Gyllenhammar] hangs behind on a 20m rope so we don’t lose each other.”
They managed 55km in this fashion, but hope for better conditions soon.
