Posted on 12/26/2018 9:20:56 PM PST by simpson96
American adventurer Colin O'Brady just made it across Antarctica alive, alone, and way ahead of schedule.
That feat makes O'Brady the first person to ever cross the southern continent on a solo, unsupported mission without getting resupplied or using a kite.
"This is something that no one in history has ever accomplished, and people have been trying for 100 years," O'Brady told Business Insider before he started the record-breaking trek.
According to his live-tracking map, O'Brady reached his finish line on the Ross Ice Shelf on December 26. He quickly followed up with photo proof, confirming he'd skied 932 miles across the frozen desert, towing a sled full of gear.
Every other person who's tried that before has either given up or died. A British explorer, Louis Rudd, is also racing to accomplish the same lofty goal, but Rudd was still 73 miles from the finish line when O'Brady arrived on the edge of the shelf at the Leverett Glacier.
O'Brady has posted photos of his daily grind on Instagram throughout the journey. After his momentous finish, here are some highlights from his adventure at the bottom of the world.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
HA!!!
Since Antarctica is such a coldspot, you'd think that at least one of the competitors would come from Cuba. Okay, I'll stop now.
We’re having a big night, weather wise here in MN.
Looks like it’s heading your way.
Good luck.
The shortest meridian crossing Antarctica is 1,870 miles and longest is about 3,700 miles. There is no average but 2,700 miles is the median.
His effort is a half of a quarter of the pie, 12.5%.
But don’t tell him that.
1. No predators to worry about, I suppose, give or take the stray penguin. I don’t think Polar Bears or Wolves would linger either, since they would have so little to hunt for.
2. He must have slept in carved out cave dwellings, facing away from the strongest winds.
3. Forget about any personal hygiene during the journey.
Who’s going to complain about halitosis?
4. How did he power his cell phone?
5. Some experienced hikers are saying it’s a lot more than 944 miles to his destination. More like 19400. Who knows?
I didn’t want you to have to live in suspense.
;)
He must be part of the round-earth conspiracy :)
B.S.
Psyop.
“Had a graded, well-marked road too.”
I guess you haven’t been following him on the net.
Something called sastrugi (sp?) that sounds like frozen waves in the ice (caused by the wind). 1 to 2 feet tall and spaced 3 to 4 feet apart. Up and down, with a 300+ pound sled.
Several days doing it in whiteout conditions where he couldn’t even see his skis (or feet). Eyes glued to a hand compass for 12 hours a day to stay on course.
An amazing adventure. He had planned on 65 days iirc. (I wonder how he feels now about carrying all that extra food he didn’t need?)
Note that if you look at their routes it is not across all of Antartica (that is 2000+ miles). The journey started at the head of an inlet nearest the pole, then they took a 90 degree turn to the right to get them to the other nearest inlet.
If he had even taken a glass of water from the guys at the pole he would have been disqualified.
He (and the other guy) DID have the guys take some photos. I hope that doesn’t count as “aid”. (I’m guessing it didn’t). But - it did save them the trouble of setting up the tripod as they had done all the other days as they documented the trip.
No bears or wolves in Antarctica. Penquins only on the coast - I imagine he left them behind in the first two hours.
Setting up his tent in the wind (50 mph sometimes) took awhile. He had a shovel and would shovel down about 1 foot it looks like. Set up the tent (with a rope and carabiner connecting it to his heavy sled so it wouldn’t blow away) - and then it looked like he used the snow from the dig to pile up a bit along the edge of the tent to keep the wind from getting underneath.
He said lots of folks asked him about the bathroom situation. “Work fast!” Just left it in a hole. Except for the last degree - all waste had to be packed out from the 89 parallel.
I looked at his website, and it said in November that Garmin could not track as he was out of range. Does anyone actually have proof he did what he says he did?
I hope he got some good shots of the secret Nazi base!
Meh. He did it in late spring. Let me see him do it in winter!
I heard that he got a frosty reception.
As someone else pointed out RE the American...
“Make Antarctica Great Again”
Was it white, male privilege that got him through the ordeal.
Thanks BTLD. We've been getting rain all day, slow, big drops.
We were right on the hairy edge of the storm. Started snowing last night around 5. Snowed a couple of inches and then rained all night.
Still raining.
What a mess.
There must have been some magic in that old dogsled he found.
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