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Denise, Linda, Craig, Hannah and Stuart reaches the SOUTH POLE!
Dec 29, 2004 10: 09 EST
Linda’s home team just emailed ExplorersWeb the happy news:
“Linda phoned… from the South Pole!!
"The group had arrived at the pole about 4.00pm, local time; 6:00, Australian time. After looking over their surroundings and putting up their tents, they are now inside, having hot drinks, resting and letting family, friends and supporters know the excellent news.
They had an early start on their final day and a shorter march (about 12 nautical miles - 23 kilometres). To make their final day shorter the group had done an extra skiing section for each of the past three days (over 16 nm – about 30 kilometres daily).”
Linda has become the first Australian woman to ski to the South Pole.
The trip
Denise Martin was leading a team of four skiers to the Pole: Hannah McKeand, Owen Jones, Craig Mathieson and Fiona Taylor. They were dropped onto the ice at Hercules Inlet on November 4 and headed right into bad weather.
Fiona suffered frostbite during the trip from Hercules Inlet to Patriot Hill, where she decided to abort her attempt. Weeks later, Owen would be airlifted near Thiel Mountains - on December 9 -in pain due to problems with his Achilles tendon.
In exchange, the team was joined by Stuart and Linda, who were pinned down when their team leader Devon suffered a bad cut in a hand, and therefore was airlifted from the ice.
Hannah McKeand, Owen Jones, Craig Mathieson, Fiona Taylor, and Denise Martin (leader) attempted to reach the South Pole from Hercules Inlet-Patriot Hills in a ressuplied expedition.
Scottish accountants Craig Mathieson and Fiona Taylor of the Scot100 adventure hoped to reach the pole at Hogmanay, with the centenary celebrations of the first Scottish National Antarctic Expedition by explorer William Spiers Bruce. "It is nice to do something that isn't the same as a day job" sayd the accountants. The expedition is fully funded by the team's employers, Ernst & Young.
31 years old Hannah, from UK, decided to drop everything, mortgage the house, and embark on a year long triple-threat that has already taken her to the deserts of Afghanistan and Libya. After the expedition on the Antarctic ice she will take part in a sailing race around the world.
Owen Jones is "an ordinary joe" working for an investment bank in Tokyo: "I've wanted to visit the South Pole since I was 19, but up to now I've had no experience of Polar travel - the closest I have come to anything similar is a journey I took overland for six months from Cape Town to London way back in 1984. I visited Antarctica on my honeymoon in 1997 and have been wanting to return ever since."
Stuart (born 1959) is an Attorney from Waco, Texas. He summited Everest on May 16, 2002. He also made Cho Oyu on May 13, 2000. He completed the 7-summits in December 2003.)
44 years old Linda Beilharz, born in Melbourne and mother of two grown-up children, has trekked around the world, but skiing to the SP has been her greatest adventure by far.
Before the ice, she tested her suitability for extreme cold weather expeditions completing a semester long mountaineering course in Canada and New Zealand. The experience helped her to realize she had; “developed a passion for the remote snowy landscapes and have learnt that I cope well with the work load and the cold.” Now she is the first Australian woman to reach the South Pole!
In 1997 Denise Martin became the first Canadian woman to ski to the North Pole.
Images over Contact 3.0 of the South Pole team courtesy of Polar Challenge expedition; compiled image of Stuart, Linda and Craig, courtesy of Craig/Scot 100.
Hannah’s live dispatches | Craig’s live dispatches
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