The Coldest Journey: Winter Antarctic Crossing Ready To Get Underway

One of the most difficult and demanding expeditions we have seen in a very long time is set to get underway today as the members of the Coldest Journey team prepare to embark on their epic trek. As you probably recall, this is an attempt to traverse Antarctica, via the South Pole, in the dead of winter – something that has never been accomplished before. The men are preparing to face horrendous weather conditions, including extreme cold and incredibly high winds, as they get ready to embark. But true to form, Mother Nature isn't exactly cooperating, so they may have to delay their launch by a day or two.

For the past four days a blizzard has raged around the team, which is in place and ready to go. They'll begin at Crown Bay and plan to cover approximately 4000 km (2485 miles) before ending on the far side of the continent along the Ross Ice Shelf. They are predicting that it will take about 85 days to reach the South Pole and another 60 to get reach the finish line. That means nearly five months of travel in the harshest environment on the planet. Just how harsh? They expect temperatures to routinely hit -90ºC/-130ºF. Now that is cold. And if that wasn't bad enough, most of the expedition will take place in complete darkness as there isn't much light at the bottom of the world this time of year.

The members of the Ice Team, Spencer Smirl, Ian Prickett, Rob Lambert, Richmond Dykes and Brian Newham will be traveling on skis while motorized support vehicles follow along. Those vehicles will carry food, fuel and supplies for the journey, allowing the men to focus on simply moving forward. While this is a departure from what we're use to seeing out of Antarctic skiers, most of whom drag sleds behind them with their gear, the only way this team could get insured for the expedition was to bring more reliable support with them.



The best known and highest profile member of the team was suppose to be Sir Ranulph Fiennes, but he was forced to pull out of the expedition after contracting frostbite while training last month. Ran is now back home in the U.K. and facing possible surgery on his injured left hand, but he'll be following the expedition closely and providing advice for the five men who will carry on without him. Since having to leave Antarctica in late February, he has expressed his frustration with not being a part of the expedition.

While the start of the journey was delayed due to the weather, the latest update from the team says that the skies are clearing and conditions are improving. It now looks like the delay will be a brief one and they may still get underway today or tomorrow.

Expect to hear a lot about this expedition in the coming weeks. It is going to be an incredibly challenging excursion to say the least. This team hopes to make history, but ahead of them sits 4000 km of open, desolate landscapes and unforgiving conditions. Add in the fact that they won't be able to call for a rescue and there is the potential for some serious drama here. Lets all with them some luck and hope all goes well.

Sir Ranulph Fiennes Pulls Out Of Antarctic-Crossing After Contracting Frostbite

One of the biggest upcoming expeditions that I have been anticipating is the first-ever winter crossing of Antarctica led by Sir Ranulph Fiennes. The 3200km (2000 mile) journey would test even the heartiest of explorers, exposing them to temperatures as cold as -90ºC/-130ºF as they battled incredibly high winds and massive snow storms in what some consider the most challenging polar adventure left to do. Today we learned however that Fiennes has now been forced to pull out of the expedition after contracting severe frostbite while training.

Fiennes and his teammates have been in the Antarctic for several weeks now, putting the final touches on their preparations to launch their trans-continental trek. He and his companions were on a training exercise when Fiennes took a spill, damaging his ski bindings in the process. The famous explorer than proceeded to remove his gloves to fix the bindings in -30ºC/-22ºF temperatures which caused the frostbite. He is now waiting evacuation from the Antarctic to return to South Africa to receive treatment.

This isn't the first time that Fiennes has had to deal with frostbite. The veteran polar explorer has contracted it in the past on his numerous expeditions to the cold regions of our planet. In 2000, while traveling solo to the North Pole he had to be evacuated for the same reason. It was not long after that that he famously amputated his own finger tips to remove the necrotic area after his doctor urged him to wait until they were more fully healed. It is likely that that incident had an impact on him contracting frostbite once again.

The rest of the team is still proceeding ahead with their plans. They will depart on the Antarctic crossing on March 21 with several members of the team on skis, while others drive support vehicles behind them. We'll be able to follow their progress at the Coldest Journey website.

The BBC article linked to above indicates that Fiennes is absolutely devastated that he won't be able to join the team on this trek. Some believe that he saw this as a possible swan song to his career, capping an already impressive resume with one last grand adventure. Unfortunately that isn't going to happen. As soon as the weather clears, he will be on a plane back to South Africa.

Video: Sir Ranulph Fiennes Loves His Garmin fēnix Too!

Yesterday I posted a video of mountaineer Simone Moro waxing poetically about how much he loved his Garmin fēnix GPS watch. Today we have another noted adventurer in the form of Sir Ranulph Fiennes, who does the same thing. As most of you know, Fiennes is one of the most famous explorers on the planet, having visited both the North and South Poles, climbed Everest and completed seven marathons in seven days on seven continents. He is also preparing for what could be the toughest challenge of his career, a winter traverse of Antarctica that will begin in March.

In the video, Sir Ran talks about how the technology in the fēnix has made navigating on his expeditions so much easier. He talks about previous adventures in which he would use a sextant to determine his location, taking lots of time to complete the painstaking process. Now, he can simply touch a button on his wrist and know his location at all times. He also talks about how the navigation features can be a lifesaver when conditions take a turn for the worst.

Obviously this series of videos are commercials produced by Garmin, but they are also interesting case studies of how some of our favorite adventurers put their gear to use in the field. That's something that always fascinates me, particularly when I'm interested in what ever piece of gear they are using.