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.

Patagonia expedition finds 1741 shipwreck

WEST Somerset adventurer Major Chris Holt (pictured) has successfully helped to lead an expedition to Patagonia to find the wreck of a sunken English warship after 265 years.
The team discovered what is believed to be part of the hull of HMS Wager, a warship which sank off the coast of Chile in 1741.
The story of the Wager shipwreck remains important in the modern world, because it was influential in the formation of what is now the Royal Marines.
Major Holt is the son of Tim and Eileen Holt, who live in Tivington. He retired from the Army in 2005 after serving 10 years in the Royal Engineers, mostly in bomb disposal, which saw him awarded the Military MBE.
During his Army career, Major Holt saw operational service in the Balkans and Iraq, and he was also an Army diver.
It was his diving skills which were required for the Patagonia expedition, which was mounted by Scientific Exploration Society (SES), headed by world-famous explorer Col John Blashford-Snell.
They travelled to the remote and uninhabited Wager Island, off the coast of South America, with a team of 10 divers to try to locate and survey the wreck.
The last British attempt to find the Wager was in 1829 by the Beagle, with Charles Darwin on board, which was unsuccessful.
Working in severe weather the diving team under Major Holt found wreckage in a river bed, and not, as expected, under the sea.
Major Holt said it was probably the result of a huge earthquake in the 1960s which raised the coastline by about 23 feet in one event and caused a tidal wave which struck Japan.
He said: “The island turned out to be exactly what we were expecting, which was a fascinating place and pretty weather-torn.
“All in all, it definitely felt like an expedition as we were completely isolated for a month and battered by the weather.
“We were hit by two phenomenal storms. You could barely stand up for three-and-a-half days and it was some of the worst weather conditions I have ever experienced and we were nearly washed away.”
The extreme weather conditions in the area made the operation dangerous and at one time the camp was flooded after three days of continuous of rain, and food was almost exhausted as the re-supply boat was unable to reach them.
A British archaeologist on the expedition, Andy Torbet, said: “Subject to scientific confirmation, a five-metre square wooden section of the hull of an 18th century ship appears to be part of the Wager.”
He said a musket ball found in the hull could indicate the ship had been in conflict.
The expedition was supported by the Chillean Navy, and Chilean marine archaeologist Diego Carabias also examined the discovery and said he believed it was part of the ill-fated Wager.
The story of the HMS Wager wreck and the incredible survival of some of its crew, who took five years to reach England, was recorded by survivor Midshipman John Byron, later Admiral Lord Byron and grandfather of the legendary poet John Byron.

Photo 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.