No One Has Ever Crossed Antarctica Alone. Two Men Are Trying Right Now.

i know this doesnt count but ranulph fiennes and mike stroud almost made it across in 92-93 unassisted. roughly 1350 miles in 95 days the way they went. i thought they deserved an honorable mention. look them up they have done some incredible explorations

a reply to: fightzone58

I wish them both luck. It's a hazardous trip regardless of the all the modern equipment and such. What would make it a real accomplishment is if they - like Shackleton and co - then sailed in a small boat to South Georgia with no hope of a helicopter rescue.

Voyage of the James Caird

originally posted by: Wide-Eyes

originally posted by: rickymouse

originally posted by: Wide-Eyes

originally posted by: rickymouse
There is one born every day.

Who are you referring to?

Idiots who will risk their life for being the first one to do something stupid.

You wouldn't be living where you do if it wasn't for people doing stupid sh1t.

I am a yooper, we are used to the cold and snow and many people love the winter. Not many if any here would walk across antartica though, we have lots of experience with cold. I used to be able to work outside in subzero weather all week long, but I would go into the warm house at night. It is fun being a little crazy but not as crazy as those people are doing. Yeah, staying away from the weird city slickers by living up here is a benefit.

##UPDATE DAY 10##

colinobradyDay 10: SASTRUGI - That’s the word to best summarize the theme of the last few days. Contrary to popular belief, Antarctica is not flat. The South Pole is above 9,000ft. I started at sea level on the Ronne Ice Shelf so I’m going uphill all day, every day. But, the real challenge is the sastrugi. This picture gives an idea of my daily struggle.

Not only am I pulling my 300lb sled all day, but I’m pulling it up and over thousands of these sastrugi speed bumps created by the violent wind. It’s a frustrating process at times to say the least. Good news is it’s Day 10! I said to @jennabesaw the day I left “I can’t wait for it to be day 10.” The first 10 days have been full of ups and down, mistakes and magical moments. It always takes some time to adjust and adapt to a long expedition, but every day now I’m feeling more in rhythm. Most importantly, my mind is quieting down as I become one with the environment and tap into flow more and more often. #TheImpossibleFirst #BePossible

##UPDATE DAY 5##

colinobrady DAY 5: THE ENDLESS WHITE. This gives a sense of my view all day everyday with the sun never setting. Today I made my furthest progress of the journey! The theme of my day was memories. Staring into the white all day long with nothing to interrupt my thoughts, floods of memories came back to me. But not in a typical way, more like a lucid dream where I am viscerally connected to the memory in all its vivid detail. I often think we forget the mundane and routine memories as our brain skips over them in the day to day. Let me assure you that it’s not true; it’s all in there.

Big shoutout to my sister Caitlin. I love you. I miss you. Caitlin drove me to school everyday in her Mazda 626. We took that 20 minute drive hundreds of times together, but it’s not something I often think about. Today I relived those drives, our chit chat, our silence, but most of all our 5 CD’s that we played in heavy rotation. So many car sing alongs to Belle and Sebastian, and Counting Crows “August and Everything After.” That album is still a gem 25 years later. For the 15,000 school kids following along this project, a CD is a shiny round disk that had 15 songs on it...magic at the turn on the millennium

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Speaking of the Counting Crows, 'Round Here' suits his location and trials with the opening lyrics:

Step out the front door like a ghost
Into the fog where no one notices the
Contrast of white on white.
And in between the moon and you the angels
Get a better view of the crumbling
Difference between wrong and right.
I walk in the air, between the rain,
Through myself and back again where? I
Don't know

a reply to: Kandinsky

##UPDATE DAY 22##

Day 22: KEEP SHOWING UP. I normally pass the days just listening to the silence, but this morning I found myself in a precarious mental state. I’m feeling a bit like I’m in no man’s land. I’ve been out here for what seems like a long while, but I’m not yet even halfway. I know landmark moments like approaching the South Pole or finish line will motivate me to kick into a higher gear, but this in between place feels hard.

To change the dialogue in my mind I decided to tune into a podcast - @richroll thanks for keeping me company my friend. Rich had @des_linden as a guest on the show, and her message was exactly what I needed to hear. As a professional runner for 13 years she’s had great success; she’s gone to two Olympic Games, but had never actually won a marathon.

This year she finally broke through and won the Boston Marathon, the first time an American female has won since 1985 (the year I was born). Des’s message was the inspiration I needed to unzip my tent this morning and each morning, to go outside and face another challenging day. Her words that ring so true for me out here: “Some days it just flows and I feel like I was born to do this, other days it feels like I am trudging through hell. Every day I make the choice to show up and see what I’ve got and try to be better. My advice: keep showing up.” All I need to do every morning is unzip my tent, go outside and keep showing up. And, day by day I’ll get there. Thanks @des_linden - I really needed that today. #TheImpossibleFirst #BePossible

www.instagram.com...

30 years ago, I might have contemplated doing something of this nature... Not likely I would have actually done it.

That sort of thing, whether the first to do it, or not, takes a special sort of crazy. It's not a bad crazy, but it's crazy none the less.

Godspeed, gentlemen...try to stay not too cold.

a reply to: LookingAtMars

O' Brady was on Rogan last night and seems like a cool enough guy. Endurance athletes fascinate me and if they've got some back story it's even better. He wants to continue completing amazing feats and said he's started looking at himself as an artist on art projects rather than as a pure athlete. His words on flow states were cool and he describes a point when he switched off his music and ploughed on in the moment for hours. He was totally immersed in his environment and mindset.

One of my favourite historical comedy moments is Captain Cook calling "Dibs" on the continent of Australia. The idea of O' Brady and Rudd achieving something no other human has done has a similar sense of scale. Most people, including me, hover around the mean (we're average) and then we have these people. 5lb of brain matter which takes them to levels undreamt of my 85% of the human population.


Gotta say the one moment that pissed me off was how he referred to Louis Rudd as "This other guy." The 'other guy' is the only other person in history to have done what O' Brady has done. It won't steal any thunder to give credit and say his name out loud.

did they find the end of the flat plane?