Pole success for Antarctica expedition

A BRITISH-led Antarctic expedition raising money for an Exmoor charity has celebrated making history by becoming the first people to reach the continent’s Pole of Inaccessibility without mechanical assistance.
The pole marks the centre of Antarctica and is the point on the continent furthest from any coast and was only previously reached by a Russian team in 1958, who took a year to make the journey using tracked snow vehicles.
The British team, called N2i, reached the pole after 49 days using only skis and kites to help pull themselves and their 18 stone/120 kg pulks (sledges) on the 1,100-mile journey in temperatures down to minus 52C.
They were approached to raise money for the Exmoor-based Calvert Trust by the trust’s council president, the Countess of Arran, who is a family friend of some of the explorers.
It is hoped they will raise £150,000, which will meet the cost of a new sports hall for the charity, which provides specially-adapted facilities to enable people with disabilities and of all ages to experience outdoor adventure activities.
On reaching the pole, the team was met by a giant bust of Lenin (pictured) which had been left by the Russians who set up a meteorological station before abandoning the base.
Team N2i comprises Henry Cookson, aged 31, Rory Sweet, aged 39, and Rupert Longsdon, aged 34, all from Gloucestershire, and guide Paul Landry, who is Canadian.
In a log entry sent from the pole, the team said: “It is hard to believe we not only travelled to the centre of a continent which easily envelops Australia, but with the vast majority of our 1,100-mile adventure being in temperatures averaging below -20 degrees Celsius and at an altitude over 3000m.
“What is even harder to get our heads around is the endurance of the human body.
“We are not superheroes, nor any different from the average person (well maybe a touch stubborn).
“We merely had the inclination and the right set of circumstances which enabled us to set out on our journey.
“The comfort of Western modern life does not seem set the human body the tasks of which it is potentially capable.
“What we do know, is that four people of very different physiques and personalities endured in those last 25 hours of travel temperatures consistently below -45 degrees C with 18 hours hard, solid kiting, covering 250 km at an altitude equivalent to over 4,200m (14,400 ft). It certainly does make one wonder…”
The expedition began at the start of December from Novo, and they have now been picked up by an aircraft to be taken to the Vostok research station - the location of the world’s lowest recorded temperature - from where they will travel to a Russian base on the coast, Molodezhnaya, and leave on a scientific ice-breaker called the Akademik Feodorov.
They will be taken to Cape Town, in South Africa, and expect to fly back to Britain early in February.
Further information about the expedition at http://www.teamn2i.com/ and about the Calvert Trust at www.calvert-trust.org.uk.

• The team photo above taken at the pole shows (left to right) Rory Sweet, Henry Cookson, Paul Landry, and Rupert Longsdon. Photos submitted.