Two days to go...and counting!

My stomach is in bits, I'm not sure if its due to the over indulgent send off I had on Sunday eve or apprehension that I will be leaving in two days to finally embark on a journey of a life time. Perhaps it's a combination of them both.

Anyway, I've a few people to thank here, a few people who have supported me in one way or another over the past few years.

My Uncle John who has supported me non stop through the whole thing, Rachel who supported me through my training and had to put up with a lot of crap when I broke my collar bone just before crossing Greenland, David who provided us with excellent training in Norway, Sjur for his essential expert advice on clothing and equipment, Max who has had to put up with my loud thoughts at work, Nessa for listening to my gripes and getting me so drunk on Sunday that I spent the whole of Monday suffering, Brian for giving me the often needed reality check and Sean, for having to tolerate a less than diligent work effort over the past year. At the risk of sounding like a gushy Oscar winner, I'll stop there, but loads more people have supported me in one way or another and greatly deserve thanks – you know who you are, thankyou.

We fly out from Dublin on Thursday eve and should arrive in Punta Arenas, Chile, around 2pm on Saturday. We'll then set about making final checks on all the gear we shipped, review our food rations and then pack the sledges (or Pulks as we call them). As soon as the weather allows we'll board the big Russian Ilyushian cargo plane for the last leg of our Journey to Patriot Hills camp in Antarctica.

Check out the Ilyushin here, and learn more about Patriot Hills here.

The Weather

The weather rarely achieves fame, yet occasionally it sways the course of History, perhaps no more so than the Russian winter of 1942-43. At this time, during the siege of Stalingrad, daily temperatures reached -35C. Hitler had anticipated a quicker conclusion to his campaign in the East and, as a consequence, his troops were ill prepared for such a climate. As the harsh winter set in the German army suffered heavily. The Volga then froze over, allowing the better equipped Red Army to more readily re-supply it’s beleagued city. Eventually, the siege of Stalingrad was broken and on February 2^nd 1943 the German forces surrended.

I apologise for the history lesson but I find it useful to appreciate the scale of the temperature I will have to face on the Antarctic continent. During the summer, at McMurdo base, near the edge of the continent, the temperature varies between -4C and -10C. As one proceeds inland, up onto the polar plateau, the temperature steadily drops to a somewhat chilly -30C to -40C at the South Pole. These are average temperatures, if you factor in the odd blizzard, of which there are many, and the accompanying wind chill then it gets a little more interesting.

So knowing that I will soon be spending 60 days in a climate comparable to a famous Russian winter is, well, making me a little apprehensive…which is probably a good thing to be honest as I doubt there is any room for complacency on this trip!

For a quick look at the weather at the South Pole pop over to here.

Introduction

As a child I read about the great explorers of the Heroic Age and dreamt of their endeavours. In 2006 I put my name forward to train for an expedition to traverse South Georgia in the footsteps of Shackleton, Crean and Worsley. I gave up smoking and undertook some tough training sessions in Kerry, Ireland and Krosbu, Norway - prior to then my only experience were a few hikes across the Wicklow Mountains. We learnt snow shoeing, ice axe breaking, glacier rescue and rope techniques before heading down south in November 2006. We succeeded in crossing South Gerorgia with 24 kilos on our backs and went on to visit Elephant Island, cross Deception Island and even hike up a glacier on the Antarctic Peninsular.

On our return I committed myself to train for an expedition to traverse the polar plateau in Greenland. I again spent many weeks in Norway learning Nordic Skiing, cold weather camp craft and sledge hauling. In August this year we flew out to Greenland's east coast and started our traverse, hauling 90KG sledges. It took 31 days in all and was tough going, thanks largely to the vast amount of melt water we encountered - the Greenland Ice Cap is indeed melting quite rapidly.

In November 2007, one and a half years after taking my first steps towards my childhood dream, I will leave for Antarctica with three others. From there we will embark on the first ever Irish attempt on the South Pole.