Posted: Dec 29, 2008 01:20 pm EST
(The Poles.com) Norwegians Christian Eide (leader), Rune Midgaard, Mads Agrup and Morten Andvig, arrived at the South Pole on 26 December from the Messner Start in a record time. They travelled the 890 km route in 24 days 8 hours and 50 min, averaging 36.87 km per day, reported their home team to ExWeb. Their record pace is 10 days faster than the previous fastest team on this route; and compared to the 1130 km Hercules Inlet Route speed record, Todd Carmichael averaged 29 km per day.

The previous fastest team on the Messner Route was a 2005 Hvitserk team; Rolf Bae, Cecilie Skog, Per-Henry Knudsen, Roland Krueger and Wolfgang Melchior who arrived at the South Pole in 34 days. See the links section below the pictures for more on their trek and for the tragedy that hit Rolf and Cecilie in August.

The 2008 Hvitserk team first started their trek on 22 November 2008, but after 251.2 km (9 days) a member was evacuated because of medical reasons. They decided to start over again to keep their unsupported, unassisted status and their second attempt then started on 2 December. Lars Ebbesen from Hvitserk provided the following from the team:

START 2 Dec 2008 07:30 UTC-3
END 26 Dec 2008 16:20 UTC-3

The first Brits arrived this season at the Pole on 27 December; the duo, Gavin Booth and Adam Wilton arrived from Hercules Inlet. Solo Brit, Mark Langridge, is due to arrive on 30 December according to his home team.

Unsupported, unassisted

Mark Langridge (solo, UK)

Mark’s home team reported on the 26th that he managed 16.5 nm for that day and was 45 nm from the South Pole, “weather permitting he should be at the Pole by 30th December.”

Todd Carmichael (solo, USA)

Todd is off the ice, but listen on his website to his last voice dispatches from Antarctica (Patriot Hills) telling about the hardships at the end and his intense emotions.

Chus Lago (solo, Spain)

On Day 47, 27 December, Chus was at 87° 38.808’S, 082°22.836’W after travelling 25 km.

Kari Poppis Suomela and Pasi Ikonen (Finland)
They reported about the flight back from the South Pole to Patriot Hills: “I have to admit that crossing the ice was somewhat easier in a Twin Otter than on skis. It took us 43 days to reach the pole and five hours, including a stop for refuelling, to get back.”

They write about what they saw at the South Pole Station and about the delicious food that Chef Ronny Finsaas prepared at Patriot Hills (see more about Ronny in the links below the pictures).

Gavin Booth and Adam Wilton (UK)

The team reached the South Pole on 28 December and said they had planned for this for five years. They describe their last degree experience, “On Christmas Eve we crossed 89 degrees, which gave us a big boost to moral.”

“On Christmas day we increased the work rate to 12 hours, getting us over 89.5 and positioning us for our push to the Pole. We did manage to celebrate a bit by having a fruit cake and we were rewarded by some sunny weather.”

“On Boxing Day we had good weather again, and we decided to go for it and make it our final march. We travelled for 22 hours and covered 0.5 degrees, arriving at the South Pole at 0915 GMT on the 27th December having taken 45 days and 13 hours.”

Richard Weber, Ray Zahab, Kevin Vallely (Canada)

Ray explained about how they distribute the gear between them. He and Richard haul the group gear and Kevin all the electronics and filming equipment. They are documenting their expedition and try to film on a daily basis or at least once every second day he says. “Just thought I would drop a few hints of what it's like trying to film an expedition in the freezing cold and when you are trying to go really fast and everybody is tired. It is really tough," Ray said.

Distances: 19.2 nm, 18 nm
Position 27 December: 86.4480S, 082.3500W

Shackleton Centenary Expedition, UK (Henry Worsley, Will Gow and Henry Adams) – Ross Island start

The group is "back to their old routine of skiing for 7 or so hours a day on snow with no ice in sight," their home team reported.

They explained about wanting to bypass the crevasse fields near the Shackleton Ice Falls “meant a slight detour to the South West, before plotting a new course to the South, and the start of the polar plateau.”

”100 years ago Shackleton's team were relaying sledges, exhausted, and running low on food. At the same position on the 22nd December, 1908, Shackleton noted: "Please God, ahead of us there is a clear route to the Pole".”

On their first day on the plateau the Shackleton descendants reported their worst white-out yet.

Distances: 15.4 nm, 13.7 nm, 15.7 nm
Temp –33°C, -30°C, -15°C
Position Day 45: 85° 24’, 159° 45’

Christian Eide (leader), Rune Midgaard, Mads Agrup and Morten Andvig (Hvitserk Happy Feet, Norway)

Regarding the age of this team, the leader Christian is 33 and the average of the other three is 50.

The team arrived at the Pole on 26 December, just to hear that the Twin Otter is on its way to the South Pole to pick them up in 5 hours time. They toured the South Pole Station, but reported Lars Ebbesen from their home team, “they nearly fell asleep, as it was hopelessly hot in the station. On top of that was the floor a big challenge. It did not move and was perfectly flat! It gave them a feeling of being seasick…”

“But the biggest shock was the stairs. That was just soooo heavy it took their breath away! – So much for being in shape. That the feet could not coordinate and hit the stairs correctly added to the big laugh.”

They also tell about their fellow Norwegians and Ronny Finsaas’ excellent cooking at Patriot Hills.

Return unsupported and sail-assisted

Mike Horn (solo, South Africa)

Mike explained his conditions, “The terrain, sometimes covered with sastrugi and other days not. The weather sometime clear, sometimes not. It's very hard to predict how the day will turn out. Instead one just has to take it as it comes.”

He saw the Thiel Mountains about 40 km to the left of him. “I have also crossed tracks of two other people, sometimes they're on skis and other times they are walking. They seem to be two days ahead of me. I would love to know who they are. It's interesting to see other people’s tracks for a change. Even though I haven't seen a soul since the 4 weeks I have been out here, it's strange to know that I'm not alone," said Mike.

Distances: 27 km, 27 km, 26 km

Partial routes

Teemu Lakkasuo (solo, Finland)

Teemu is on his way home and reported on 27 Dec. from a too warm Punta Arenas, “The plane [Ilyushin] arrived at Patriot Hills just after midnight and we started our flight back around 2 am.”

Teemu said he got a carabiner from Dave Hahn, which Dave took to “the summits of Everest, Denali an Vinson and now he wants me to take it to the South Pole on my next trip.”

Doug Stoup (leader), Peter Turkstra, Steve Stipsits and Fred Losani (South Pole for Kids)

The team reported from Patriot Hills that the base camp has hosted its largest Christmas dinner with 85 guests. “The people we have met at Patriot Hills have been a wonderful group of unique individuals who have a fantastic sense of wonder and adventure that take them to the most interesting places in the world.”

“At last nights dinner you could not throw a rock without hitting someone who has been to the summit of Everest or is trying to complete the Seven Summits or hold a world record for an Antarctic ski to the Pole.”

Links to Antarctic 2008-09 expeditions

Antarctic crossing/return unsupported
Peter Valusiak (Slovakia, Novo-SP-McMurdo) Aborted

Crossing/return supported and sail assisted
Dieter Staudinger, Austria/Canada, and Armin Wirth, Germany (Neumayer start) Aborted

Unsupported, unassisted
Mark Langridge (UK, solo)
Todd Carmichael (USA, solo)
Chus Lago/ Caixanova Expedition (Spain, solo)
Gavin Booth and Adam Wilton/ British South Pole Expedition 2008 (UK)
Richard Weber, Ray Zahab, Kevin Vallely/ South Pole Quest Expedition (Canada)
Kari Poppis Suomela and Pasi Ikonen (Finland)
Henry Worsley, Will Gow and Henry Adams/ Shackleton Centenary Expedition (UK)
Christian Eide, Rune Midgaard, Mads Agrup and Morten Andvig/ Hvitserk Happy Feet (Norway)
Christian Eide, Rune Midgaard, Mads Agrup and Morten Andvig/ Hvitserk Happy Feet (Norway) map
Christian Eide, Rune Midgaard, Mads Agrup and Morten Andvig/ Hvitserk Happy Feet, Norwegian dispatches

Return unsupported and sail-assisted
Mike Horn (South Africa/Switzerland)

Supported or assisted
Eric Larsen (USA)
Doug Oppenheim and Jeremy Rogers (UK)
Daragh Horgan (UK)
Ross Maxwell (New Zealand)
Sarah McNair-Landry (Canada)
Thomas Davenport (USA)
Kari Gundeso (Norway)
Julio Fiadi (Brazil)

Partial routes
Teemu Lakkasuo (Finland, solo)
Doug Stoup (leader), Peter Turkstra, Steve Stipsits and Fred Losani (South Pole for Kids)
Jesús Noriega, Xavier Valbuena and Eric Villalón (Pol Sud Sense Límits, Spain)
Børge Ousland and team
Hannah McKeand and team
PolarExplorers Last Degree and Vinson

Other Antarctic expeditions
ANSMET Meteorite Hunters
Remote Medical representative at Critical Skill, Tom Milne’s, Vinson Expedition
Duncan Chessell, Jamie McGuiness and team’s 80 km Ellsworth Mountain traverse and Vinson climb
Tommy Eriksson’s Icebreaker (Aborted)
Cristian Donoso and team’s Antarctic Peninsula Kayak Expedition

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