Posted: Jun 26, 2006 06:25 am EST
(ThePoles.com) Remember Hannah McKeand? A couple of years ago, this adventurous British girl decided to drop everything, mortgage the house, and embark on a year long triple-threat that took her to the Libyan deserts, the isolated valleys of Afghanistan -and the South Pole.

During the last weeks of 2004 she joined a team led by Denise Martin and made it to the SP from Hercules Inlet (with resupplies). Then she thought it would be cool to sail-race around the globe. So in 2005, Hannah completed half the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race, sailing as watch leader on Glasgow Clipper from Liverpool, England to Portugal, Brazil, Durban, Fremantle, Singapore and the Philippines.

Blizzard commanders

Restless again, Hannah has resurfaced - teaming up with David Prize, an experienced Antarctic and Southern Ocean sailor, to launch Blizzard Expeditions. Their project is an adventure outfitting company focused on exploring the Southern Ocean regions by mounting expeditions to Antarctica, South Georgia, Patagonia, Tierra del Fuego as well as Cape Horn and the Beagle Channel.

For these two explorers, blizzard is not just a snow-blowing wind, but the name of 20-meter, schooner-rigged, aluminum expedition sailing yacht, built to operate independently in the wild and remote regions of the world.

From Tasmania to Antarctica and back – via the Magnetic South Pole

For now, Hannah and David have a confirmed sailing and skiing trip across the Southern Ocean to the Antarctic coast and back.

On January 25, 2007 they will embark on the Blizzard with a small team, setting off from Hobart (Tasmania) towards Commonwealth Bay and Cape Denison, an isolated spot on the coast of King George V Land, Antarctica - known as the windiest place in the world.

Sailing through the Magnetic SP

Then they'll head northwards again towards the Southern coast of Tasmania, before returning to Hobart. On the way, they will cross the Magnetic South Pole, currently located on the ocean. The voyage is expected to take 5 weeks. At the time of editing this story, there was still place for four more people on the team. Further details and other trips are available on the expedition’s website.

After getting a degree in Classics at Lampeter University and working as Marketing Manager and then Head of Touring for the Watermill Theatre in Newbury for seven years, Hannah McKeand decided, at 31, to drop everything, mortgaged her house and go exploring.

In 2001 she traveled across the Western Desert on the borders of Egypt, Libya and Sudan with a Hungarian lead expedition in search of prehistoric rock art in the mountains of Uweinat and the Gilf Kebir plateau. That was the first of several trips to the Northern Africa desert areas. In 2004, she traveled on entographic project across Afghanistan.

Later that year she joined a team led by Denise Martin for the South Pole. Other members were Owen Jones, Craig Mathieson and Fiona Taylor. They were dropped onto the ice at Hercules Inlet on November 4 and headed straight 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, in pain due an Achilles tendon injury, would be airlifted near the Thiel Mountains.

In exchange, the team was joined by Stuart and Linda, who were pinned down when their team leader Devon suffered a bad cut to his hand, and had to be airlifted from the ice. The group arrived at the Geographic South Pole on Dec 29, 2004.

David Pryce is a master mariner and naval architect with a passion for exploring the wild and remote corners of the globe.
His first voyage south to Antarctica was in 1996 on Expedition Ice Bound. Since then, he has returned four times to Commonwealth Bay, Antarctica and the Magnetic South Pole. In addition to his Southern Ocean experience he has raced the Solo and Double Handed Trans Tasman Races, The Osaka Cup, Hogs Breath 1000 Hobie Endurance Race and large super yachts.

Cape Denison was first visited by Sir Douglas Mawson and became known as the 'Home of the Blizzard' as a result of the katabatic winds that he recorded to be the strongest in the world.

Earth's Magnetic South Pole is where the magnetic field lines are oriented vertically and come out of the surface of the Earth. The magnetic inclination is thus defined as -90 degrees. The Magnetic Pole varies in position on a yearly basis due to secular variation (or drift in Earth's magnetic field). Australian explorers T.W. Edgeworth David and D. Mawson were the first to claim locating the Magnetic South Pole in 1909 as part of the Shackleton expedition of 1907-1909. However, their location has subsequently been found to be incorrect and the most likely location of the Pole in 1909 was 71deg 36'S 152deg 0'E.

Today it lies far out to sea at latitude 65°S and longitude 139°E. and travels 10 to 15 km north-westerly each year.

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