Just like clockwork, the 2013 Antarctic season appears to be ramping up right on schedule. We already know that the Scott Expedition is off and running, but soon they'll have company out on the ice. Veteran adventurer Richard Parks will soon embark on a solo expedition to the South Pole and he hopes to do so in record time.

Parks left the U.K. on Monday of this week and should be in Punta Arenas now. He is no doubt resting, sorting his gear and preparing for the flight to Union Glacier for the start of his speed attempt. He will be taking on the daunting task of trying to beat Christian Eide's speed record for traveling 1150 ki from Hercules Inlet to the South Pole, a distance of 1,150 km (715 mile), that was set in 2011. At the time, Eide managed to make that journey in an astounding 24 days, 1 hour and 13 minutes. To do that, he had to average 47 km (29 miles) per day, which anyone who knows anything about Antarctic travel will tell you is an insane pace. Parks hopes to go faster.

Richard has set a goal of completing his journey to the South Pole in 23 days. That means he'll have to average 50 km (31 miles) per day, which doesn't sound like a lot more but those extra kilometers it can really wear on someone day in and day out, particularly when they are dragging a heavy sled behind them the entire way.

If all goes as expected and the weather cooperates, he hopes to begin the expedition in mid-November. That means he has a couple of weeks to rest and prepare before heading out on the ice. I'll certainly be following his progress once he gets going.

Meanwhile, the aforementioned Scott Expedition continues to make progress, albeit at a slow pace. They boys have been on the trail for just five days but pulling the heavy sleds have made it tough so far. Their pace has dropped to as little as 1 km (.6 miles) per hour as they slog through powdery snow when they would prefer to be on hard pack. On top of that, the weather has taken a turn and gotten colder (-40ºC/F this morning!) and windier. They're now getting a real taste of what it is like to travel in Antarctica.

This was all to be expected of course and that's the reason Ben and Tarka set off early in the first place. It is also not uncommon for polar travelers to struggle early on, then find their groove once they've had a chance to acclimatize to the conditions. I suspect that will be the case here as well.

That's all for today. I'll update the progress of both of these expeditions as we get word and I'll post more starts as they come.

As I mentioned a few times last week, we're on the verge of the start of the 2013 Antarctic expedition season and soon numerous teams will be heading to the bottom of the world to ski to the South Pole, climb Mt. Vinson or explore some other location on the frozen continent. But one team got an early start to the season by setting off last week, and while they're just a few days into their epic journey, they are now moving south at last.

Last Monday, Ben Saunders and Tarka L'Herpiniere of the Scott Expedition flew from Punta Arenas, Chile to the McMurdo Station in Antarctica. They spent a few days there getting their gear and supplies organized before they caught another flight out to the Ross Ice Shelf, where they spent another day and a half skiing to their official starting point at the Scott Terra Nova Hut. Since they will be skiing in the footsteps of polar legend Robert Falcon Scott, and hoping to complete the route he couldn't, it seemed only fitting that Ben and Tarka set out from the same place that he did more than a century ago.

The boys have begun posting dispatches from the ice and so far it seems that conditions are good but the work is hard. Their sleds are at full capacity at the moment, which means they are pulling 200 kg (440 pounds) of gear and supplies behind them as they begin their 1800 mile (2896 km) journey to the South Pole and back again. Those sleds will get easier to pull as the food supplies start to dwindle, but for now it is tough going, especially since the snow is soft and powdery.


As a result of these heavy loads, Ben says they are covering about 2 km (1.2 miles) per hour, which doesn't sound very fast but is actually quite good for so early in the expedition. It usually takes a week or two for Antarctic explorers to acclimate to the temperatures and altitudes there and the body must adapt to the work load of skiing all day while puling a heavy sled behind them.

The weather has been great for the lads so far although as expected the temperatures are a bit brutal. This morning they are dealing with -30ºC/-22ºF with wind chills taking those temps down to -40ºC/F. It is a bit unusual to have such good weather at this point in the season, but I'm sure Ben and Tarka are happy to have it. It is not uncommon for Antarctic adventurers to encounter high winds, blowing snows and whiteout conditions as they get underway. In recent years, there have even been delays  to the start of the season due to poor weather at the traditional drop off point at Union Glacier.

With the first of November now just a few days away, we should start to see a few more teams making their way to Punta Arenas and preparing to head out on the ice. Because of the extreme distances involved with their expedition, Ben and Tarka set off as early as they could, but most won't be making a return trip from the Pole, so they'll have more to complete their expeditions. It'll also give them more time to allow the weather to be more conducive for travel.

Stay tuned for more soon. The season is just getting started.

A few days back I posted that the 2013 Antarctic season had officially begun with the first team departing Punta Arenas, Chile for the frozen continent. That team consists of veteran explorers Ben Saunders and Tarka L'Herpiniere who collectively make up the Scott Expedition. Over the next couple of months, the two men will attempt to complete the route used by Robert Falcon Scott on his way to the South Pole back in 1912. Scott himself was unable to finish that expedition, perishing on the return trip after discovering rival Roald Amundsen had beaten him to the Pole by a matter of weeks. Ben and Tarka will make that journey in a self-supported fashion as they look to finish what Scott started.

The team flew out of Punta Arenas on Monday and were shuttled to the Union Glacier camp for the first stage of their journey. They then spent a couple of days getting organized, prepping their gear and acclimatizing to the Antarctica. Yesterday they again boarded a plane and were taken to the Ross Ice Shelf, where they are now en route to the Scott Terra Nova Hut, the famous launching point for Scott's expedition. Even though it was built more than a century ago, the hut remains an important landmark on the continent.

When they were dropped off on the ice yesterday, the two men had to ski 32 km (20 miles) just to get to their starting point. They are expected to arrive there today and will likely take a brief rest before they start the real meat of the expedition. Once they're ready, they'll then begin moving south, pulling their heavily loaded sleds behind them as they set off across the Antarctic at last.

Once they're underway, Ben and Tarka expect to make daily – or at least frequent – updates from the field. In fact, as I write this they are a bit over due for their first check-in from the hut. Hopefully that update will come soon and we'll be able to follow them closely over the coming week. You can read those dispatches on the team's blog page.

In the days ahead I'll be following the progress of this expedition very closely. Expect to read about it regularly on the Adventure Blog. Other teams will soon join Ben and Tarka out on the ice, but for now most them look like they're a couple of weeks off yet. Since the lads are making a return trip from the Pole, they had to get a jump on the season. They'll also likely endure worse conditions in the early going.

Such is the life of an Antarctic explorer. Best of luck boys!

Just as the fall climbing season in the Himalaya begins to wrap up, the 2013 Antarctic expedition season is just about to get underway. As usual, there are a host of explorers heading to the frozen continent this year, most of whom will be making the journey on skis to the South Pole. The first of those explorers will hit the ice today, officially launching another season of adventure at the bottom of the world.

The first team to hit the ice is will be Ben Saunders and Tarka L'Herpiniere, the two men who are taking part in the Scott Expedition. They are on a plane out of Punta Arenas, Chile this morning and are now making their way towards Patriot Hills in Antarctic to start their journey. As you may recall, Ben and Tarka will attempt to make an unsupported round trip excursion to the South Pole and back, starting and ending at the Ross Ice Shelf, while following along the same route that Robert Falcon Scott took on his fateful expedition more than a hundred years ago. If successful, they'll be the first to complete the 1800 mile (2897 km) sojourn that claimed the lives of Scott and his men.

You can follow the expedition on their website, Twitter feed and Facebook page. The team is carrying a lot of communications gear and plans to making daily updates and dispatches to keep everyone informed of their progress. That's a far cry from Scott's days when the ultimate fate of the men wasn't known for months. But for those of us who enjoy learning about expedition life in the Antarctic and the challenges the explorers face, these updates should prove extremely interesting. The next time we hear from them, they will hopefully be in the Antarctic and preparing for the start of the expedion.

Ever wonder what kind of logistics are involved with getting an expedition such as this one off the ground? Then you'll want to watch the video below which shows Ben and Tarka preparing some of their gear. More importantly, it shows them packing their food, which is a painstaking task that takes a great deal of time but is absolutely necessary for survival out on the ice.

By now I'm sure you're all well aware that the shutdown of the U.S. government has ended and all services are being restored. This is, of course, a good thing for not only the States but the rest of the world, because if a budget compromise hadn't been reached by yesterday, the U.S. would have defaulted on its debt, causing all kinds of economic issues across the globe. Fortunately that didn't happen and some semblance of normalcy can return one again.

With the standoff between Democrats and Republicans over (at least for now!) the federal government began ramping up operations once again on Wednesday evening. As a result, all of America's national parks are open once again and visitors have already been flowing through their gates. With the fall travel season in full swing, this is good news for everyone who enjoys the outdoors and it means that we are no longer officially shut out from some of the most spectacular landscapes in North America, if not the world. I say "officially shut out" because many visitors to the parks ignored barricades and went inside during the shutdown anyway.

The news is not so rosy for the researchers and scientists hoping to travel to Antarctica this season. As I mentioned previously, the shutdown forced the government to put several Antarctic bases into "caretaker status" which essentially reduces everything to a skeleton crew and maintains the bare minimum or resources. Ramping back up from that isn't as easy as removing barricades and opening gates, as there are a lot of logistics that go into supplying those bases and ensuring staff can arrive there safely. Most of those plans were canceled or put on hold pending resolution to the budget crisis, and since those schedules are so tightly set, getting back on schedule is an uphill battle.


The National Science Foundation is currently evaluating its options and working to get back into service. As of this writing, their website still isn't even functional. From what I understand, they'll spend the next few days figuring out which Antarctic projects have priority and determining what funding they'll have available, before deciding on how to proceed.

If I were to guess, I'd day we'll see a paired down Antarctic schedule for the season ahead. Some projects will still be salvaged but others will have to be delayed until next year or beyond. Operations will likely ramp up much more slowly than normal and will probably be at a much lower capacity. We'll just have to wait to see how things play out, but with the Antarctic expedition season about to commence, decisions will need to be made quite quickly.

I, for one, am glad to have the parks back in operation and at least some movement in Antarctica. Now if we could just get some people to move in Washington, things would be much better all around.

The 2013 Antarctic season is still three months from getting underway and yet it is already shaping up to be an interesting one. Last week I told you about the husband and wife team of Chris and Marty Fagan who will be heading to the South Pole together in November and yesterday I received word about an even more ambitious expedition. In December, 19-year old Parker Liautaud will attempt to set a new speed record for skiing to the South Pole, covering the distance from the Ross Ice Shelf to 90ºS in just 22 days.

The expedition is set to begin, weather permitting, on December 3. On that date, Parker will embark on a 400 mile (643 km) journey to the Pole that will be a true test of his endurance and dedication. If he hopes to break the speed record he'll need to average 18 miles (29 km) each and every day, which is a lot to ask in an environment like the one he'll find in the Antarctic. Even during the summer months in the Southern Hemisphere conditions can be challenging there. Temperatures will routinely fall between -28ºC (-18ºF) and -60ºC (-76ºF). High winds, whiteout conditions and sudden snow storms can all make it tough for him to complete those distances. If he is successful, he'll also become the youngest man to ski the full distance to the Pole as well.

Despite his young age, Parker is no stranger to polar exploration. He has skied to the North Pole on three separate occasions. Those were all "last degree" journeys however and his journey to the South Pole will be the full distance. His visits to 90ºN have all been guided by veteran polar explorer Doug Stoup as well. There is no word on whether or not Doug will join Parker on this journey too. The press release detailing the expedition says that it will be "unsupported" but there is no mention of whether or not it is also "solo." (Update: I've heard directly from Parker that Doug will indeed join him on this expedition!)


In keeping with the themes of his previous expeditions, Parker will once again be drawing attention to climate change, global warming and its effects on the polar ice caps. While he is skiing to the South Pole he will be taking samples of the snow that he passes by each day and he will deploy a brand new, lightweight weather station that will collect data in realtime. The hope is that through the samples and data collected, we'll begin to learn a little bit more about how climate change is impacting the Antarctic.

You'll be able to follow Parker when he gets underway at WillisResilience.com. Currently there is a clock there counting down the days until the start of expedition as well as some more info about the he hopes to accomplish while traveling through the Antarctic.

The 2013 Antarctic season is still several months off but we all know that the keys to a successful expedition begins long before the teams ever hit the ice. With that in mind, the husband and wife duo of Chris and Marty Fagan are training hard for their attempt at skiing to the South Pole later this year as they hope to go unsupported to the bottom of the world.

The Fagans are already accomplished outdoor athletes. Both are ultra-runners and climbers with multiple 100 mile (160 km) trail runs and summits under their belt. In fact, the two first met while both were climbing Denali on separate expeditions back in 1998 and they've been practically inseparable ever since. The couple has a 12-year old son, who will not be joining them in the Antarctic.

The couple is planning on launching their South Pole expedition on November 23, although their exact schedule will obviously be dictated by the weather conditions. They'll start at the Ronne-Filchner Ice Shelf and cover 560 miles (901 km) on their way to 90ºS. They hope to wrap up the journey in just 45 days as that will be the amount of food they'll take with them when they get underway. In order to stay self-supported while out on the ice, they'll be pulling 180 pound (81 kg) sleds filled with gear and supplies. To prep for that kind of a load, the couple has augmented their traditional ultra-marathon training by dragging tired behind themselves for hours on end.

Chris and Marty have dubbed their expedition 3 Below Zero which they say is a reference to the members of their team. In addition to the couple themselves, the third member of the squad will be their friends, family and followers who will be cheering them on from home as they travel south. If thats the case, they can count me as a member of the team then as I'll certainly be following along.

Thanks to ExWeb for the tip on this story.

Remember the Coldest Journey expedition? It was the much vaunted attempt to cross Antarctica on skies in the winter, when the continent becomes one of the most inhospitable environments on the planet. When the expedition got underway this past March, it was with the anticipation that the team of explorers made up of Brits Brian Newham, Ian Prickett, Richmond Dykes, Rob Lambert and Spencer Smirl would traverse the Antarctic by way of the South Pole, covering some 4000 km (2485 miles) along the way. By June, that goal had become a distant memory however, as bad weather, incredibly difficult surface conditions and dangerous crevasses prevented the men from making the steady progress they had hoped. As a result, they put a halt to their journey and elected to set up camp and wait for a plane to come pick them up once spring had arrived. Two months later, they're still waiting for that plane, although they have had their first glimpse of things starting to turn in their favor.

For the past two months the team has essentially been camped in the same spot while they've waited for the winter to pass. During that time they have continued to focus on the scientific aspects of the expedition which consist of taking various weather readings to measure the impact of climate change on the environment in the Antarctic. While they haven't been able to make any progress forward or back, they are still going about the business of collecting data for ongoing research.

There was a glimmer of hope on the horizon this past week however as the sun has shown itself for the first time in weeks. During the Antarctic winter the days get increasingly shorter until the sun dips below the horizon altogether and the continent is shrouded in darkness. But that long night has come to an end at last and the sun has begun appearing above the horizon for the first time in quite awhile. The days may not be all that long just yet, but it is a start. And for this embattled crew, it is also the first sign that spring is approaching. That could mean that there is a light at the end of the tunnel for these five men who have been in Antarctica for a really long time.

We're still probably a couple of months away from any kind of evacuation taking place but the return of the sun is a good sign for these men. After weeks in nearly complete darkness, they'll now have some daylight to help bolster their spirits and mood. I'm sure at the moment they feel a bit like the expedition that the world has forgotten about, but optimism comes with the sun.

Hand in there boys! Spring will be here before you know it.

Earlier this year, climbers Leo Houlding, Jason Pickles and Sean Leary traveled to Antarctica to attempt  to make the first ascent of Ulvetanna Peak, an incredibly tough technical climb in an incredibly tough environment. A documentary film covering the expedition is in the works and the trailer for the video, which will be called The Last Great Climb, is below. According to the website for the film, it won't be available until December 1 of this year, but after watching the brief clip below, it looks like it's going to be excellent. Can't wait to see it.

One of the most daring expeditions to launch in recent years has been the attempt by a team of Brits to cross Antarctica during the dead of winter – something that has never been accomplished before. The expedition, which has been dubbed the Coldest Journey, set out in March with Brian Newham, Ian Prickett, Richmond Dykes, Rob Lambert and Spencer Smirl all hoping to become the first to traverse the continent during the harshest and most demanding time of the  year. I have posted a few updates on their progress over the past few months, with the most recent coming just last week. Those updates revealed that this challenge was every bit as daunting as we expected, with incredibly bad weather and treacherous surface conditions all conspiring to slow progress to a crawl. Yesterday the team's support crew back in the U.K. announced that the were putting a halt to the expedition while they assess what they will do next.

The biggest problem that the team has faced are the crevasses that spider-web across the area that they are currently traveling through. This crevasse field is so bad that they think it could stretch for 100 km (62 miles) around them. Add in the fact that the sun has now set on the Antarctic winter, leaving the men in the dark most of the time. That perpetual darkness has made it very difficult to spot the dangerous crevasses, which has slowed progress even further. With all of that in mind, the following blog post was published yesterday:

Having consolidated a position on safe ground away from the crevasses, the Ice Team are taking stock of their situation. It is clear from their recent reconnaissance work that the terrain to the south is a complex and uncharted mass of crevasses which are hard to detect in the darkness, covered, as they are, by snow bridges. Painstaking efforts have been made with the ground penetrating radar (GPR) to plot a safe route through the crevasse field which it is believed may extend for up to 100kms to the south of the present position. The situation is made all the more concerning because the efforts required to navigate and haul their many tons of essential equipment and supplies through such treacherous terrain means that they risk forfeiting much of the unique scientific work which they have been commissioned to undertake throughout the winter months. In view of this dilemma, further careful assessment is being made to decide on a workable strategy. A decision needs to be reached having researched all the relevant factors which include the safety aspects as well as the feasibility of achieving and/or prioritising all of the expedition’s aims. Such a decision needs time. For now, the team will remain where they are and continue to undertake their science and medical work while developing a plan for the months ahead. All of us at HQ wish the team well at this frustrating time. We shall keep you posted with developments as they occur.

Best wishes,
The Coldest Journey Team

So there you have it. It seems the expedition has likely come to an end, at least in the sense that there really is no way for them to cross Antarctica completely in winter. They will continue to collect data about the region they are in as part of the scientific elements of their mission, but progress has been so slow and dangerous that it is probably for the best that they abandon the crossing and play it safe for now.

The problem is, they really can't come home yet either. Conditions are so bad there right now that it would be impossible for them to be retrieved from the ice. So for the immediate future they'll have to stay where they are, stuck in limbo indefinitely. Fortunately they have plenty of food, supplies and shelter to keep them safe while they continue their research. How long they'll have to wait for an opportunity to come home remains to be seen, but I get the sense that they'll try to take advantage of the time that they have there and accomplish whatever they can.

Good luck to the team now more than ever. While progress had been difficult and slow before, at least they were going somewhere. Sitting and waiting at their current position may be the most challenging aspect of the journey that they've faced so far.

Two explorers have announced their intentions of completing the Antarctic expedition that famed British explorer Robert Falcon Scott never could. Veteran adventurers Ben Saunders and Tarka L'Herpiniere say they will attempt to follow in Scott's footsteps on an 1800-mile (2896 km) round trip journey to the South Pole that will follow the same route that the Terra Nova expedition took in 1911-1912. That is the same expedition that resulted in Scott and his men arriving at the South Pole three weeks behind their Norwegian rivals led by Roald Amundsen, before they all perished on the return trip to the coast.

Ben and Tarka intend to set off from the same cabin that Scott used when he launched his expedition more than a century a go. They'll get underway in October of this year with the hopes of completing the epic journey in approximately 110 days. They'll make the trip without resupply as well, which would make this the longest unsupported polar journey in history.

Scott, who remains a legendary figure in British exploration more than 100 years after his death, famously raced Amundsen to the South Pole to claim the honor of being first to reach that point. Using knowledge from his years spent in the Arctic, Amundsen and his men were able to move faster than the Scott party and as a result were able to plant the flag of Norway at 90ºS several weeks before the arrival of the Brits. Dejected and defeated Scott and his men set out on their return journey with heavy hearts. That journey proved fatal to all of the remaining men, with Scott himself, along with Edward Wilson and Henry Bowers, perishing in a tent after getting caught in a blizzard that raged for days. Sadly, they were just 11 miles away from "One Ton Depot," a supply cache that would have given them food and fuel that would have allowed them to survive.

Saunders and L'Herpiniere won't be facing such dire consequences when they launch their expedition later this year. Still, it will take a herculean effort on their part to complete this journey. We haven't seen a lot of success on these round-trip expeditions to the South Pole and they will be taking a route that is far from the tried and true Hercules Inlet starting point.

The 2013 Antarctic season is still months away, but I'm already starting to look forward to it.

With all of the activity taking place in the Himalaya over the past month and half or more, it has been some time since we checked in on the progress of the Coldest Journey team. You may recall, this is the group of explorers who have set out to cross the Antarctic in the dead of winter, something that has never been done before. The members of the team knew that they were taking on an incredibly difficult task, but it seems that progress has been more challenging and slow than they ever imagined.

The expedition began back in late May with the team departing from Crown Bay along the Antarctic coast. The plan is to traverse the continent to the Ross Ice Shelf via the South Pole. Five members of the team are traveling on skis while others follow behind on tractors, which are fulling large sleds that serve as shelter from the harsh conditions and carry all of the team's fuel and food. This approach to traveling across the continent came about because of the complete lack of support the team would have along the way. Conditions are so bad there at the moment that no one would be able to provide a supply drop or come rescue them if they got into trouble.

And just how bad are the conditions? The team is routinely facing absolute temperatures of -50ºC/-58ºF. Wind chills have taken those temperatures closer to -70ºC/-94ºF however, which is almost unthinkably cold. Add in persistently snowy weather, the constant threat of crevasses and near-24 hour darkness and you begin to understand just what the men have been dealing with.

With that setting in mind, is it any wonder that they team has made very slow progress thus far? As of last Saturday, they were making their camp at S72 51′ 13.5″, E023 33′ 50.2″, which is still an awfully long way from the South Pole. Their ability to move forward has been hampered by blue ice, which is dangerous to cross, and the mechanical failure of one of the tractors. Repairs have been completed on the vehicle now, but they are still getting the expedition back on track.

All told, the journey is suppose to cover 2000 miles and take approximately six months to complete. That means that they aren't even to the half-way point, in terms of time or distance, just yet. That said, they will have to pick up the pace if they hope to finish the expedition on schedule and complete their stated goal of crossing the frozen continent during the winter. So far, not many things have gone their way and the finish line has to feel like it is an impossible goal right now.

You can follow the team's progress on their blog, through Facebook and Twitter. They post almost daily updates on their progress, which on some days is nearly non-existent. I'll bet these boys will be looking forward to some tropical weather once they have finished their mission.

It has been awhile since we checked in on the progress of the Coldest Journey team. You may recall that this group of five adventurers, which includes Brits Spencer Smirl, Ian Prickett, Rob Lambert, Richmond Dykes and Brian Newham, are attempting to cross Antarctica on foot in the dead of winter, something that has never been done before. Before setting out on March 21, the men knew they were facing a difficult challenge. Now, seven weeks later, they realize that it is far more demanding than they ever imagined.

The team initially set out from Crown Bay in late March and began heading south from there. The plan is to traverse the continent, eventually finishing on the Ross Ice Shelf, but not before visiting the South Pole first. The entire expedition was expected to take six months to complete and cover approximately 4000 km (2485 miles) along the way. That time estimate may be off however, as the team has been behind schedule almost from the start when a four-day long blizzard prevented them from setting out as planned.

Things haven't exactly gotten better after that either. Antarctic winter weather conditions area amongst the worst on the planet with heavy snows, high winds and whiteout conditions. They team has routinely faced temperatures below -40ºC/F. Those conditions have at times made it difficult for the men to make any significant progress and there have been days that have been so awful that they didn't move at all.

In order to make the Coldest Journey a reality, the expedition is supported by two tractors which pull large sleds loaded with supplies and a shelter behind them across the ice. Those tracked vehicles were selected specifically to help the skiers make progress on their journey, but lately they have been slowing them down. Over the past week or so the entire team has been moving through a vast field of blue ice, which is a danger zone for anyone traveling through an arctic region. The blue ice forms over large crevasses which are difficult to spot and can pull a tractor into a gaping hole just as easily as a person. In fact, a person might even be able to safely ski over some of these patches of ice, while the much heavier machinery will crack right through. The team is using ground penetrating radar to watch out for these crevasses, but progress slowed to a crawl while they made their way through this treacherous area.

Now it seems that they have passed through that region safely and are hoping to make up for some lost time. The radar shows that no crevasses along their current route, which is giving everyone renewed confidence. But the ground isn't fully cooperating either as the blue ice has now given way to a hard, smooth surface that has been difficult for the tractors to get traction on. So while they are safer now, progress is still incredibly slow.

You can read all about the expedition, including daily updates from the ice, at TheColdestJourney.org.

Explorer and climber Mike Libecki was named a National Geographic Adventurer of the Year for putting up first ascents in Borneo and making first descents on snowboards in Afghanistan. Recently he sat down with the crew over at EpicTV to conduct a video interview of what he has been up to since. In the interview he talks about climbing in Antarctica, Yemen and much, much more. Some of the real highlights of the video are some of his amazing photos from the places he has been. Excellent stuff.

We already knew that Prince Harry had an adventurous streak. In 2011 he joined a team of soldiers who had been wounded in battle on a trek to the North Pole. Harry is the patron of the Walking with the Wounded organization and although other obligations (namely is brother's royal wedding!) kept him from going all the way to the top of the world, he still felt it was important to be there with his companions. It turns out the Prince has an affinity for the cold places of our planet, as he now intends to join another team that will race to the South Pole later this year.

According to this article in the Daily Mail, Harry will once again join a team of skiers from the Walking with the Wounded foundation as they attempt to ski to 90ºS. But it seems that is just the tip of the iceberg (pun fully intended!) on this expedition. The team will actually represent the U.K. in a race to the South Pole, which will also include teams from the U.S. and one from the Commonwealth countries of Canada and Australia.

The article is scant on details although as you would expect, the competitors in this race will travel to the Antarctic in November and they have an eye on wrapping up the expedition by December 17. That would lead me to believe that this is a Last Degree journey to the Pole and not a full length expedition. We'll probably have to wait until the 2013 Antarctic season draws nearer before we'll know for sure.

One of the impressions I took away from Harry's 2011 polar expedition is that when he is with the other members of the team, he is just one of the guys. Everyone comments on how down to Earth he is and how good it is to have him on these expeditions. I get the impression that he truly likes doing these adventurous activities and perhaps a visit to the polar regions is a nice escape for him. After all, how many paparazzi are there a the Poles?

If you were following along with my coverage of the Antarctic season that just past you may recall that snowboarders Xavier de Le Rue and Lucas Debari were heading to the frozen continent to ride some untouched mountains there. Now that the season has passed, they've begun sharing videos of their experience, which as you might have guess was quite spectacular. In the video below, we get a tour of their expedition boat, The Golden Fleece, and a sense of what life is like aboard the ship. We also get some enticing shots of the landscapes that make Antarctica such an alluring destination for adventurers.

Ep 2 Mission Antarctic from TimeLine Films on Vimeo.

Last year, Antarctic skier Alan Lock traveled 570 miles (917 km) from the Ronne-Filchner Ice Shelf to the South Pole in just 43 days. In doing so, he became the first visually impaired person to complete such a demanding journey in one of the challenging environments on Earth. The inspiring video below is a half-hour long documentary that tells Alan's story and gives us a glimpse of what an Antarctic expedition is all about. Sit back and enjoy the journey with him as he pushes on to the bottom of the world.

Thanks to ExWeb for sharing this video.

This past Friday marked the 101st anniversary of the death of Robert Falcon Scott, who was stranded in a tent in the Antarctic after his ill-fated attempt to lead the first expedition to reach the South Pole. As we all know, Scott was successful in reaching 90ºS but arrived only to discover that he was beaten to the prize by Norwegian Roald Amundsen, who had nipped him at the finish line three weeks earlier. On the return trip back to the coast, Scott and his men suffered mightily before he and his two remaining companions became stranded in their tent while a I blizzard rage outside for ten days straight. They ended up freezing to death, without food nor fuel, just 11 miles from a supply depot that would have saved their lives.

We know that Scott was the last of his men to die and before he perished he wrote a few letters to friends and family back home. One of those letters was to Sir Francis Bridgeman, one of his former commanding officers. Last week, the contents of that letter were revealed to the public for the first time. It read:

To Sir Francis Bridgeman 

My Dear Sir Francis 

I fear we have shipped up – a close shave. I am writing a few letters which I hope will be delivered some day. I want to thank you for the friendship you gave me of late years, and to tell you how extraordinarily pleasant I found it to serve under you. I want to tell you that I was not too old for this job. It was the younger men that went under first. Finally I want you to secure a competence for my widow and boy. I leave them very ill provided for, but feel that the country ought not to neglect them. After all we are setting a good example to our countrymen, if not by getting into a tight place, by facing it like men when we were there. We could have come through had we neglected the sick. 

Good-bye and good-bye to dear Lady Bridgeman 

Yours ever 

R. Scott 

Excuse writing – it is -40, and has been for nigh a month

One of the things that had continued to endear Scott to his countrymen is that he continued to maintain his famous British stiff upper lip, even to the bitter end. That is seen once again in this letter as he asks for forgiveness for his poor penmanship due to the harsh weather. You would think when you know that you are facing your own impending doom you wouldn't worry so much about that, but Scott still cared about the details even as he knew death was coming for him.

Would we all have the strength and courage to face our mortality if placed in the same circumstances? I'd like to think so, but I'm not sure that would be the case. These glimpses into Scott's personality help to keep his legend and spirit alive more than a century after his death.

Following a delayed start, the Coldest Journey team got underway late last week and have been making solid progress during their first few days on the ice. The group is hoping to become the first expedition to complete a traverse of Antarctica during the winter, which means crossing more than 3800 km (2361 miles) of frozen ground while being battered by the coldest and harshest weather imaginable. 

The journey began at Crown Bay where the team first endured a four-day blizzard just prior to their departure. Since then they have been moving away from the coast, and slowly gaining altitude, which has resulted in a deterioration of the weather. In fact, it has gotten so bad that a whiteout has halted all progress today while the men sit in their "living caboose" and wait for things to improve. Considering how poor the weather can be in Antarctica this time of year, they could potentially be sitting their awhile.

The expedition is expected to take upwards of five months to complete with most of that spent in complete darkness. The Ice Team, which consists of Spencer Smirl, Ian Prickett, Rob Lambert, Richmond Dykes and Brian Newham, are traveling on skis the entire way, while the Train, consisting of two tractors, the living caboose and a supply trailer, follow along with all of their gear, supplies and shelter. When the weather is bad as it is currently, it is simply too unsafe for the team to proceed. 

You can follow along with their progress and get daily updates throughout the expedition at TheColdestJourney.org. 

Mountaineer George Lowe passed away yesterday at the ripe old age of 89 after leading an astounding life of adventure that took him to the Himalaya, Antarctica and beyond. His passing marks the end of a mountaineering era, as he was the last remaining survivor of the team that first successfully climbed Mt. Everest back in 1953.

By all accounts, Lowe was instrumental in putting Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay on top of the mountain. He did much of the work shuttling gear up the South Col to help establish the high camps and broke trail for the two men who would eventually claim the lion's share of the glory. It was also Lowe who was first to go up the slopes of Everest to greet his life-long friend Hillary, and the Sherpa guide Norgay, while they were still descending from their historic climb.

A talented photographer, Lowe managed to capture many of the iconic images that helped chronicle the expedition that finally conquered Everest. Those skills earned him a spot on the first Trans-Antarctic Expedition, which crossed that continent for the first time in 1957-58.

A renowned ice climber, Lowe was a schoolteacher by trade although the remote places of the planet called to him more. As part of a New Zealand climbing team, he and some friends managed to climb six new peaks in the Himalaya in 1951 alone. Other expeditions took him to Greenland, Ethiopia and the Pamirs. Later in life he would serve as part of the U.K.'s Department of Education serving as an inspector of schools. He also helped fund the Sir Edmund Hillary Himalayan Trust in that country as well.

Lowe truly lived a life of exploration and adventure. His journeys took him to the far corner of the globe and into the history books. While it is sad to see him pass, 89 years of adventure is quite a lot for any single lifetime. I give George a tip of the cap for a life well lived.