A race is about to take place and its finish line is at the bottom of the world, the course will traverse some of the most inhospitable terrain known to man.
The last time a challenge of this magnitude was held, members of one of the teams perished in the frozen planes of Antarctica. Almost one hundred years since that first race, where Norwegian, Roald Amundsen triumphed and British explorer, Robert Falcon Scott perished. Six teams, comprising of teams from the UK, Norway and Ireland will once again set out on a perilous journey across the baron ice lands of Antarctica to the geographical south pole.
The competitors will soon be on their way to Antarctica where their challenge will start mid- December 2008. They will have to travel 483 miles across frozen terrain while having to deal with temperatures as low as 50C degrees. No snowmobiles and no huskies just human power.Each three person team will have to ski and pull 150 lbs (70kg) sleds and not just on flat ground but across climbs of up to 9300 ft.
This challenge of extremes will also push the competitors to their physical and mental limits. The teams of both men and women include some particularly notable competitors.Double Olympic gold medal winning rower, James Cracknell will be competing in the event as will blind competitor Mark Pollock.
According to the race website “All teams entered have undergone intensive Antarctic training to enable them to cope with the dangerous terrain and crevasses that they will face as well as to acclimatise them to the extreme temperatures they will have to survive in for 30 to 45 days.”
The Amundsen Omega 3 South Pole Race is sponsored by Amundsen Omega 3. CEO, Rune Skjoldal says “It is an honour for us to be the title sponsor for the first race in the foot steps of the two great explorers, Scott and Amundsen.”
The Epoch Times will be following the race progress in December and January. We will be paying particular attention to the progress of Mark Pollock and his team mates Simon O’Donnell
and Inge Soleim.
Race Schedule
Journey to the world’s end : Training
Cape Town, South Africa:
Spend two days preparing equipment before flight to NOVO, Russian Scientific Base in Antarctica. The first few days will be used to acclimatise before training continues with eight to ten days of acclimatisation and crevasse training.
Journey to the world’s end: Race Leg 1
Fly to race start with one night preparation before racing 215 nautical miles to mid-way checkpoint. Once the race starts all teams will be separated from the training staff and travel alone.
Journey to the world’s end: Race Leg 2
After arriving at the mid-way checkpoint all teams will re-supply for final race leg.
Twenty four hour after arriving at mid-way point teams will race the final 215 nautical miles to the geographical South Pole.
