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First skiers in Cape Town - off the beaten route to the South Pole, and beyond
03:48 am CDT Oct 31, 2008
(ThePoles.com) The first skiers departing from South Africa, Armin Wirth and Dieter Staudinger, have been in Cape Town for the last four days sorting out gear and repacking; all ready for departure to TAC/ALCI’s Novo base on 1 November (weather permitting).
They plan to spend three days on Antarctica doing preparations before heading off. The trek to the South Pole will start at the German Research Station, Neumayer. If there is enough time left when they arrive at the South Pole, they will turn north to Patriot Hills.
The Planes
According to a dispatch on their website yesterday, the Ilyushin that will fly them to Antarctica, was due to arrive on 30 October in Cape Town. “The plane was delayed for a little bit due to Russian government officials being very concerned about the number of military parachutes on board for Cargo airdrops. Antarctica is free of military presence,” they say.
“There are some additional problems with the DC-3 planes, which are currently on their way from Canada to the British Antarctic Research station ´Halle´. These are the planes that handle all transport in the interior of Antarctica and will bring us from the Russian station to the Ekström Ice Shelf. To date [30 Oct.] the news are that only one of the three planes has made it to Antarctica. Due to weather delays the other two have not yet been able to complete their flights.”
The route
From Novo base Armin and Dieter will be flown to Neumayer Station. This German Station is situated on the 200 meter thick Ekström Ice Shelf, Atka Bay, North-eastern Weddell Sea at position 70°39'S, 008°15'.
According to them the distance that they will travel to the South Pole is 2400 km and then about 1000 km to Patriot Hills, 80°19’S, 81°16’W, where they will be flown out by ALE.
Why this route? Dieter says, “Armin and I were pouring over our favourite map of Antarctica and literally felt our way through different options.”
“As we were checking with our Inner Vision, the German Research Station "Neumayer" (70° 39'S, 08°15W) produced feelings of excitement and joy. It felt a lot better than any other area and also the data and logistical facts supported the area of the Neumayer Station as a viable starting point."
"We discovered during our research that nobody had attempted an expedition from there to the South Pole, or at least there is no data available that would indicate this, including our inquires at the Alfred Wegener Institute in Germany. We do know that scientist stationed at Neumayer have gone as far south as 74S°.”
Sled weight
The two men will start their expedition with sleds weighing about 120 kg. After 1300 km, at 83°S, they will have a resupply of food and fuel. They say if they were doing it unsupported they had to haul almost 200 kg.
“Since our Expedition bears the name Aloha Antarctica and needless suffering was nowhere to be found in any of the translations of Aloha, claiming the title 'unsupported' was not on our wish list,” says Dieter on their website. “We knew we would be able to accomplish it but carry both the clarity within us that the amount of pain and suffering for indulging an idea in our heads to make it without a depot - was not part of the experience we desired.”
They will be using kites to ensure that they will be able to finish this long distance within the Antarctic season. They estimate to be on the ice for 88 days.
Mark Langridge
At the other port of entrance, Punta Arenas, Mark Langridge sent an email to ExWeb saying he hopes to be off to Antarctica on 4 or 5 November. He also met up with Sarah McNair-Landry there.
Armin Wirth and Dieter Staudinger will be flying from Cape Town, South Africa, to Novo Base and start skiing to the South Pole from Neumayer Station on the Ekström Ice Shelf, Atka Bay, North-eastern Weddell Sea at position 70°39'S, 008°15'. They will have one resupply at 83°S. At 90°S, the South Pole, they will turn North to Patriot Hills, 80°19’S, 81°16’W. The kite-assisted journey will take an estimated 88 days.
Biographies courtesy of the Expedition Website:
Armin Wirth was born in Reutlingen, Germany, 36 years young, has felt an attraction towards the colder regions of this planet. Working many years as a guide in Greenland, he crossed the inland ice on skis. Together with Markus Lanz, a well-known German TV host, Armin guided and coordinated a small television team to the North Pole. He also explored and led expeditions in the Arctic around Spitsbergen, Canada and Norway. Armin holds an MBA in business and is the owner and CEO of a medium sized business in Reutlingen.
Dieter Staudinger was born in Graz, Austria, 32 years young, has lived in Ontario, Canada with his wife Katie for the last 8 years. During his time in the Austrian Military in 2001 with the Alpine "Jaeger" unit, Dieter taught a wealth of Wilderness Survival and Tracking skills to his and other units. This knowledge was primarily learned from the world-renowned Survival expert, Tom Brown Jr. through many years of courses and training. Dieter has won many regional and provincial championships in Gymnastics, Vaulting and Baseball. Currently Dieter runs his own practice as a psychotherapist and is an innovative coach for personal development as well as assisting other professionals in shaping their Visions.
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