My friend David Pierce Jones with whom I shared a tent for 41 days while trekking to the Pole exactly two years ago compiled a great list of dos and don’ts for the North Pole traveller. There are many great tips many of which may seem obvious but so many people ignore them. The list makes me smile! Here are  [...]

During a long expedition such as a trek to the South Pole and back, there are always a number of items of equipment that really stand out, some good, some not so good. Here are my personal comments on some of our gear. The Great Gear Fischer Skis I have been a fan of Fischer skis for many years. Once  [...]

Michael Archer and I succeeded with the goals of our trek, that is to ski from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole, then to kite-ski back to the coast. The departures of Kathy Braegger and Chris De Lapuente were extremely disappointing, even though it had nothing to do with bad preparation or lack of training. Just bad luck.  [...]

I am now back in Punta Arenas waiting to go home on Sunday. Michael Archer left this morning for New Zealand. We arrived here late Wednesday. The last part of the expedition was a serious push as we knew there was a jet back to Punta on the Wed. On Jan 15-16, during a 20 hour period we covered 240km.  [...]

We have just received a telephone call from Richard – they are finished! 2000 kilometers across the Antarctic continent and they have successfully skied to the South Pole and kited back! They sounded absolutely exhausted on the phone – their last day, they kited 150km, and 200 km the day before! Richard will be uploading a few pictures over the  [...]

Our team has nearly finished their South Pole Expedition! Location: S 82 30 W 80 10 Distance to go: 277.8 km Richard and Michael have been working hard over the last few days, doing “long” days. The wind is proving to be not very constant. They have adapted their sleep cycles to the wind conditions – when the wind is  [...]

Position: S 84 18 Distance to go: 477.8 km The kite skiing has been challenging over the last few days. Persistent snow storms and white out conditions have been forcing Richard and Michael to do “partial” days, due to the poor visibility. Yesterday, the two teammates travelled until the weather became too poor to continue. Richard said that hopping 3  [...]

The wind on Antarctica requires a snow kiter to carry several different kites to adapt to the changing wind conditions. Richard and Michael, new to kiting in Antarctica, are finally “getting the hang of it” as Richard puts it – they are now better at working with their kites in changing wind conditions! Today’s mileage: an impressive 140km! As they  [...]

Today was a very special day in Antarctica. Michael had his birthday! To mark the special occasion, Richard cooked up a chicken noodle soup. Richard had all the tasty ingredients flown in on the resupply at the South Pole! Position: S 87 14 W 83 48 Temperature: -22C The team has come down 400 meters in elevation. As a result,  [...]

Richard called this morning: S 88.15.8 W 85.33 -25C Althought the wind has been a challenge to find, Richard and Michael are covering decent distances each day. Richard and Michael covered 130km yesterday, averaging an impressive 20 – 30 km/h. Richard said that kiting is way more fun to travel than skiing! They even managed to become airborne a few  [...]