South Pole solo

Finally I got dropped off at Hercules Inlet at 12pm today, so the clock starts ticking. I had a very hard day, the sled weighs 100 kilograms and really deep snow at the start.  I am only wearing half skins on my skis which is giving me little grip. So I spent 2 hours floundering [...]

I had another  title in mind but decided to use this one.  Argh! In summary, ALE have been trying to do their best to clear a backlog and a Norwegian team who had been waiting 17 days to start their expedition took priority and my flight got delayed.  Don’t they know who I am?  Apparently [...]

I will be heading out late morning to Hercules Inlet…..let the adventure begin!!

After waiting a few days doing preparation and testing everything is going ok although I’m bit annoyed my ski pants are a bit tight after a ten week intensive fat-athon.  Does my bum look big in these ski pants – you bet! Unfortunately they are a bit restrictive and a bit tight and this isn’t [...]

Arrived at Union Glacier.  Good to be back and see familiar faces.  I am staying here for a day or so to sort out my gear, practice with the ski’s and do some prep work.  I am anxious but excited to start. Mark ‘Georgie’ George

Gee this could be a very long blog, but I’ll try to keep it short, and I really want to focus on my own little family unit. To Nicole, my wife, thank you for continuing to allow me to live my dreams.

From an early age I’ve been fascinated with the polar regions. I recall being inspired by David Attenborough’s documentaries as a boy (amazingly when I left Australia, Attenborough’s latest Antarctic documentaries continued to ‘wow’ audiences).

At last the snow has been cleared from the ice runway and I’m sitting here in my hotel lobby waiting for my pick up to take me to the big Russian jet at Punta Arenas airport. And then it’s off to ALEs Union Glacier base camp for final gear fine tuning and to get my Antarctic legs again.