Fierce Antarctic storms force adventurer to head home

ADVENTURER Hannah McKeand (pictured), who was raised in Watchet, where her mother still lives, has told how she was forced to abandon her most recent Antarctic exploits.
Hannah, aged 33, who now lives in Newbury, was attempting to sail from Hobart, Tasmania, to Commonwealth Bay and Cape Denison, an isolated spot on the coast of King George V Land, which is known as the windiest place in the world.
On the way, she would have passed the Magnetic South Pole, currently located on the ocean.
The journey was being made on a 20-metre, schooner-rigged, aluminium, expedition sailing yacht Blizzard owned by Hannah and partner David Pryce, who is a master mariner. They had a crew of 10.
But almost from the start of the five-week adventure they were hit by terrific storms peaking with 100-knot waves smashing into their yacht.
One of the crew was knocked overboard after the force of the storm broke the three steel lifelines.
He was quickly rescued from the sea, the temperature of which was just 2.6 degrees C, but suffered hypothermia.
Then, the prop shaft pulled out of the hull, damage which could only be repaired by taking the boat out of the water.
Without the ability to manoeuvre through pack ice and into and out of anchorage, Hannah was forced to turn the boat around and head back to Tasmania just 24 days into the adventure.
“We have had some rotten luck on this trip,” said Hannah in her log. “We know and accept that this is an incredibly hard journey to be trying to make.
“Strangely however, since we turned for home the weather has become calm and benign.”
Hannah and David have founded a new high latitude sailing company called Blizzard Expeditions which up to 10 people can join as an integral member of the team, sleeping in shared cabins and sharing responsibility for all aspects of sailing and logistics, and being rewarded with a truly intimate experience with the landscape and wildlife of the deep south.
More information is available from the website www.blizzardexpeditions.com.

In December, Hannah became the fastest person to walk alone and unsupported to the geographic South Pole, making the 690-mile trek in 39 days, nine hours, and 33 minutes - almost two days faster than the previous record, also held by a British woman.

• Photos of Hannah McKeand (top) and her aborted sailing expedition to the Antarctic courtesy of her websites.

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.

Exmoor charity benefits from Antarctic expedition

AN Exmoor charity stands to benefit from £150,000 sponsorship which is being raised by a British expedition on the verge of making history by becoming the first people to reach Antarctica’s Pole of Inaccessibility without mechanical assistance.
The four men who make up Team N2i are currently about 150 miles from the pole, after trekking for 44 days and covering almost 1,000 miles.
They hope by the weekend to reach the Pole of Inaccessibility, which marks the centre of Antarctica and is the point on the continent furthest from any coast.
Team N2i comprises Henry Cookson, Rory Sweet, and Rupert Longsdon, from Gloucestershire, and guide Paul Landry, who is Canadian.
They are raising money for the charity because the Calvert Trust Council’s president, the Countess of Arran, is a family friend of Henry Cookson and Rory Sweet.
Rory told The Crier: “Lady Arran approached us about fund-raising six months ago and we liked what the trust was doing and thought it tied in quite well with what we were doing, ie extreme sports.
“We really like the idea of helping people with disabilities to participate in challenging outdoor sports.”
Henry said: “Most of us are fortunate enough to have to the opportunity to participate in sports and activities unaided - extreme or not.
“Unfortunately, for nine million people in the UK - that is one-in-seven people - this is not a realistic possibility.
“The Calvert Trust offers those with disabilities a chance to participate in a variety of adventure-driven outdoor activities that will help develop a sense of achievement that will carry through into their every day life.
“For us, this expedition, despite the hardships we will inevitably face, will be the adventure of a lifetime.
“It would be great to be able to facilitate giving something back and enable those not so capable a chance to experience a taste of their own individual adventure.”
The expedition began at the start of December from Novo, on the coast, and they are using only skis and kites to pull special sledges known as pulks, which weigh 18 stone (120 kg).
They have had to face wind chills lower than -50C (-58F) while working at altitudes of 12,500 feet.
The only other people to reach the pole was a Russian team using tracked snow vehicles in 1958, who set up meteorological observation equipment and left a bust of Lenin before abandoning the outpost.
The Calvert Trust runs a 40-acre outdoor activity centre on the edge of Exmoor for people with disabilities.
Its specially-adapted facilities aim to challenge disability through outdoor adventure and enable people of all ages and with all types of disability to benefit from the ‘Calvert Experience’, an opportunity which leads to real personal achievement.
Activities such as horse riding, carriage driving, abseiling, climbing, canoeing, kayaking, sailing, archery, and orienteering are offered, together with caring qualified staff to ensure visitors have a safe and enjoyable experience.

Team N2i's fund-raising target of £150,000 will cover the cost of a new sports hall development for the charity.
Further information about the expedition at http://www.teamn2i.com/ and about the Calvert Trust at http://www.calvert-trust.org.uk/.
Photos submitted.

Antarctic walk record for Watchet-raised woman

WATCHET-raised Hannah McKeand (pictured) has become the fastest person to walk alone and unsupported to the geographic South Pole.
She made the 690-mile trek in 39 days, nine hours, and 33 minutes – almost two days faster than the previous record, also held by a British woman.
Hannah, aged 33, who now lives in Newbury, hauled a 100kg sledge from Hercules Inlet, on the edge of Antarctica, to the Amundsen-Scott Research Station, which marks the Pole.
She said: “I have been here before and loved the place - I wanted to visit and spend more time here.
“The record was never my primary goal for the expedition, but to have set it is incredible - the icing on the cake.”
During the expedition, Hannah lost three stone in weight on a diet of chocolate, dried fruit and nuts, salami, Kendal mint cake, and pork scratchings – and fudge cake as her only luxury.
Hannah became a full-time adventurer two years ago after working as a theatre marketing manager, and she dedicated her South Pole expedition to a close friend, Jill Fraser, who died of breast cancer earlier in 2006.
Donations to her expedition charity Breakthrough Breast Cancer can be made by logging onto the website www.justgiving.com/southpole.
She hoped her exploits would also help to encourage and inspire other people to achieve their own dreams.
Hannah has previously explored deserts in North Africa, visited villages in the remote Hindu Kush mountain range of Afghanistan, and competed in the 2005 Clipper Round the World Yacht Race.
Within the next month she will embark on a sailing challenge from Tasmania to the South Magnetic Pole, accompanied by her partner David Pryce, a master mariner.
Photo submitted.