SYDNEY, Australia-
A team of British and Canadian explorers endured seven weeks of howling winds and subzero temperatures to become the first expedition to reach the geographic center of Antarctica on foot.
Dragging sleds, the team traveled more than 1,056 miles on foot or by kite ski to reach Antarctica’s Pole of Inaccessibility–the furthest point from any ocean–on Jan. 19, according to a statement posted on the expedition’s Web site.
Located more than 12,000 feet above sea level, the Pole of Inaccessibility was first visited in 1958 by Soviet explorers who reached the remote outpost in convoy of snow vehicles.
The present team–led by Canadian Paul Landry–said it was surprised to find a bust of Vladimir Lenin erected by the Soviets nearly half a century ago still standing amid the ice.
“We are all so exhausted that we have only just put up the tent with Lenin’s stern gaze over us!” The team, called N2i, also includes Britons Rupert Longsdon, Rory Sweet and Henry Cookson. The area was last visited by a six-man French team, which passed through the Pole of Inaccessibility on trans-Antarctic expedition supported by dog sleds in 1989-90, according to the Australian Antarctic Division.
