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Record trek to the Pole ... now for pizza
Source: Agencies |
January 10, 2009, Saturday
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A TRIO of Canadian adventurers said yesterday they had set a new record for fastest trek across Antarctica to the South Pole, after suffering through whiteout conditions, temperatures as low as minus 40 -- and a steady diet of deep-fried bacon and butter.
Ray Zahab said he and his teammates completed the 1,130-kilometer journey from Hercules Inlet on Antarctica's Ronne Ice Shelf to the South Pole in 33 days, 23 hours and 30 minutes, finally arriving on Thursday.
"If you took a cloud, wrapped it around your head and then duct-taped it, that's what a whiteout is like," a weary yet animated Zahab, 39, of Chelsea, Quebec, told reporters by satellite phone from Antarctica. "It was exhausting."
Zahab is best known for his epic 6,920-kilometer run across the Sahara Desert in 2007, which was the subject of a documentary entitled "Running the Sahara."
Tom Sjogren, founder of ExplorersWeb.com, a New York-based Website that compiles statistics on adventurers' feats, said the men beat the previous record of 39 days, 7 hours and 49 minutes, which was set by American Todd Carmichael just last month.
"They have definitely broken the record," said Sjogren, who uses a variety of materials, including photographs of explorers' GPS coordinates and their logs, to verify adventurers' records.
Zahab and his teammates -- Kevin Vallely of North Vancouver and Richard Weber of Alcove, Quebec -- documented their journey on their Website (http://www.southpolequest.com), using their satellite phone to post photos and podcasts on the way.
They pulled 77-kilogram sleds of equipment, with Zahab traveling on foot and on snowshoes while the other two men skied.
At night, they hunkered down in a tent to sleep.
The men suffered altitude sickness, vertigo and massive, painful blisters. They kept themselves fueled with a 7,000-calorie-a-day diet of deep-fried bacon, cheese and huge chunks of butter.
"I am dying for pizza," Zahab told reporters. "All I've been thinking about is pizza."
Ray Zahab said he and his teammates completed the 1,130-kilometer journey from Hercules Inlet on Antarctica's Ronne Ice Shelf to the South Pole in 33 days, 23 hours and 30 minutes, finally arriving on Thursday.
"If you took a cloud, wrapped it around your head and then duct-taped it, that's what a whiteout is like," a weary yet animated Zahab, 39, of Chelsea, Quebec, told reporters by satellite phone from Antarctica. "It was exhausting."
Zahab is best known for his epic 6,920-kilometer run across the Sahara Desert in 2007, which was the subject of a documentary entitled "Running the Sahara."
Tom Sjogren, founder of ExplorersWeb.com, a New York-based Website that compiles statistics on adventurers' feats, said the men beat the previous record of 39 days, 7 hours and 49 minutes, which was set by American Todd Carmichael just last month.
"They have definitely broken the record," said Sjogren, who uses a variety of materials, including photographs of explorers' GPS coordinates and their logs, to verify adventurers' records.
Zahab and his teammates -- Kevin Vallely of North Vancouver and Richard Weber of Alcove, Quebec -- documented their journey on their Website (http://www.southpolequest.com), using their satellite phone to post photos and podcasts on the way.
They pulled 77-kilogram sleds of equipment, with Zahab traveling on foot and on snowshoes while the other two men skied.
At night, they hunkered down in a tent to sleep.
The men suffered altitude sickness, vertigo and massive, painful blisters. They kept themselves fueled with a 7,000-calorie-a-day diet of deep-fried bacon, cheese and huge chunks of butter.
"I am dying for pizza," Zahab told reporters. "All I've been thinking about is pizza."
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