Daniel Burton and his bicycle at the South Pole

Posted: Jan 22, 2014 06:35 am EST

 

(By Correne Coetzer) Daniel Burton arrived at the Geographic South Pole (90ºS) with his bicycle on January 21, he reports. The American left Hercules Inlet (80ºS) on December 2, which calculates to 51 days over 1130 km (in a straight line).

 

As seen this season, the Hercules Inlet route is not groomed for cycling. When the ice conditions and the weather were too challenging, Daniel pushed his bike. 

 

He received assistance from ANI/ALE in the form of three resupplies, which the Twin Otter pilots dropped along the way. Daniel reported that after his three-quarter resupply (in 88º), he used up his food and fuel as fast as he could, to reduce his weight. He thought he would be done a week earlier, but misjudged himself with the difficulty of the last stretch, and ran out of food on the 20th, less than 20 miles from the Pole.

 

Also, he added, at the same time he was following a truck track, which took him over six miles off course before he realized it. While searching for the correct route to the Pole, ANI South Pole camp manager, Hannah McKeand, turned up with some food to take him through the last two days.   

 

After eating, sleeping and making the daily scheduled call to Union Glacier, he followed Hannah’s tracks to the Pole. Thirteen miles out, Daniel could see the black dots of the South Pole Station on the horizon.  

 

ExWeb South Pole kick-off interview: Daniel Burton, return cycle journey

 

Others

 

Solo skier Vesa Luomala is closing in on the Pole. Ben and Tarka are off the Beardmore Glacier.

 

 

Follow daily South Pole blog updates with RSS feeds in the News Stream on ExplorersWeb and the Pythom app or click the links below. 

 

2013 South Pole teams

 

Unassisted, unsupported:

  

Vesa Luomala, FI, Hercules Inlet, solo

Antony Jinman, UK, Hercules Inlet, solo, completed

Marty and Chris Fagan, USA, Ronne-Filchner Ice Shelf start, completed 

Juan Menendez Granados, ES, Hercules Inlet, solo cycle, completed

 

Assisted, Unsupported

 

Ben Saunders and Tarka L’Herpiniere, UK, UK/FR, Cape Evans return journey

Daniel Burton, USA, Hercules Inlet, cycle, completed

Carl Alvey (ANI guide) and Lewis Clarke, UK, Hercules Inlet, completed

 

 

Other

 

ANSMET meteorite hunters 2013-14

 

Dronning Maud Land Project Facebook and Blog page

 

Aleksander Gamme, Espen Fadnes, Kjersti Eide, Jonas Langseth, Andy Kirkpatrick and Ingeborg Jakobsen.

 

Australian Mawson Centenary Expedition Spirit of Mawson website

AAE 2013-2014 Interpret Science website [Rescued]

 

Arctic Trucks

 

Gateway port Cape Town, South Africa: 

To ALCI /TAC base camp Novolazarevskaya / Novo 

70° 46’37”S, 011° 49’26”E 

 

Gateway port Punta Arenas, Chile, South America: 

To ALE/ANI base camp, Union Glacier 

79° 45'S, 083° 14'W

 

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

The bottom of the Leverett Glacier, at the Ross Ice Shelf, is located at about 85ºS, a distance of 550 km from the Geographic South Pole.

The Ronne-Filchner Ice Shelf (Messner) start is 890 km in a straight line from the Pole.

 

1 nautical mile (nm) = 1.852 km

1 nm = 1.151 miles

1 knot = 1.852 km/h

1 degree of Latitude is 110 km / 60 nm / 70 miles

Sastrugi are hard snow bumps and can be as high as 10 feet

A nunatak is a top of a mountain visible above the snow surface.

 

South Pole of Inaccessibility 2011-12 position: 

S82°06.696, E055°01.951

Geographic South Pole: 90 degrees South

 

A "solo" ski requires an unassisted status (therefore no supplies carried by pilots or car drivers, or anything received from any person).

 

Previous/Related:

 

 

Lewis Clarke (16) became youngest person to ski from the coast to the South Pole

 

Married couple, Chris and Marty Fagan, arrived at the South Pole

 

Juan Menendez Granados and his bicycle reached the South Pole 

 

Antony Jinman and his drones at the South Pole

 

South Pole arrivals and False Record Claims

 

Cars on Antarctica 

 

Gamme and team to climb, jump and ski in Dronning Maud Land

 

The Coldest Place on Earth 

 

Antony Jinman with two drones to the South Pole, ExWeb interview

 

Carl Alvey to guide 16-year-old Lewis Clarke to the South Pole: ExWeb interview

 

China’s growing presence in Antarctica

 

ExWeb interview with Lewis Clarke (16): to ski 1130 km Hercules Inlet route 

 

ExWeb interview with Vesa Luomala, "there is no room for underestimating a place like Antarctica"

 

ExWeb South Pole 2013 interview with Geoff Wilson, "my mind I feel will be the greatest maze of all"

 

Marty and Chris Fagan, married outdoor team for the past 15 years. ExWeb South Pole interview 

 

ExWeb interview with Juan Menendez Granados: the greatest challenge

 

ExWeb South Pole 2013 interview with Geoff Wilson, "my mind I feel will be the greatest maze of all"

 

ExWeb South Pole kick-off interview: Daniel Burton, return cycle journey

 

ExWeb interview with Eric Philips, three decades of polar experience

 

Breaking news: Christian Eide bags the South Pole solo speed ski world record

 

AdventureStats and Rules of Adventure

 

Adventure Network International (ANI) / ALE

Antarctic Logistics Centre International (ALCI) / TAC

 

#polar #southpole2013  #southpole2013-14  #antarctica #cyclesouthpole #danielburton