Crossing Antarctica: 7 Takeaways From the Solo and Unsupported Journey

Two men are separately trying to become the first to cross Antarctica alone and without help. Here’s what you need to know.

Colin O’Brady pulling his pulk on Nov. 21, day 19 of his trek. Colin O’Brady

By Adam Skolnick

Nov. 29, 2018

In In the days since we published our story on the American Colin O’Brady and the Englishman Louis Rudd, the dueling adventurers competing for an Antarctic first, we’ve fielded plenty of questions about their expeditions, and what sets them apart historically. Here are seven takeaways from their journey:

“Solo” means they are skiing alone, pulling their own weight without any assistance. In fact, they are essentially skiing parallel lines across the continent, and haven’t crossed each other’s path since early in the expedition.

“Unsupported,” the way we define it, means two things. First, they are not receiving any additional food or fuel drops along the way. They are carrying everything they need for their entire journey on their sleds, known as pulks. Second, they will not deploy kites to harness the wind, which would make it easier to haul their weight and get them across in far fewer days. Another way to define the Rudd and O’Brady expeditions is to call them solo, unsupported and unaided. In the polar exploration subculture, “unaided” means they are not using kites.

Are you sure this hasn’t been done before?

Yes. There have been 16 successful traverses of Antarctica over the years, but all have either been supported by additional food and fuel drops or have deployed kites — or both. Notable expeditions include Borge Ousland’s 1996 trip, which was the first ever solo crossing without a resupply. He used kites. In 2006, Rune Gjeldnes skied 2,988 miles across Antarctica with kites, but without being resupplied to set a distance record that he still holds. In 2011, Felicity Aston became the first woman to traverse Antarctica solo. She didn’t use kites, but she was resupplied twice along the way.

Nobody has ever skied across the continent alone without using a kite or demanding a resupply. The last person who tried it quit at the South Pole. The man before him died as a result of his attempt.

Rudd has a comprehensive spares kit including spare skis, skins, poles and backpacking stove. He has only one tent, however. O’Brady has one extra ski pole and one extra ski binding, and an extra stove, but his repair kit is extensive. It includes a Leatherman pocket tool, a range of tapes and glues, a hand drill, and a sewing kit to repair his Thermarest, tent and sleeping bag. He can even repair his tent poles. But, like Rudd, if he loses his tent, his expedition will be over.

Say the worst happens, and one of them loses his tent or is stuck in a crevasse. How would they call for help? How would they get out?

Both men are carrying satellite phones and speak with their respective expedition managers and their handler with Antarctic Logistics & Expeditions each night. They can reach A.L.E. 24 hours a day, if necessary. Typically, rescue requests are arranged by the adventurer himself over the satellite phone. However, the expedition managers for both men also have the power to request a rescue from A.L.E. if they become concerned for their traveler’s safety. If either man is stuck in a crevasse and cannot reach his satellite phone, he will retrieve his GPS device (it is always stored somewhere they can reach), and press an emergency call button. That will trigger an immediate rescue attempt.

How do they keep their minds occupied for 8-12 hours of exertion and nothingness?

Rudd listens to audiobooks and ’80s tunes. O’Brady queues up his favorite albums and podcasts, but, as a practitioner of silent meditation, often enjoys the silence.

Both men carry satellite modems that tune into the Iridium network of satellites and enable them to send photos with decent resolution, though they keep that to one a day. They charge all their technology nightly with flexible solar panels. Rudd lays his panels out beside him in his tent each night, when there is still adequate light streaming in through the fabric to charge his devices. O’Brady arranges his panels on top of his tent, but beneath the rain fly to capture the sun’s energy. With 24 hours of daylight at this time of year, staying charged up is not a problem.

Mostly. Both men will haul all their garbage out like one would on a backcountry camping trip. But if they are making great time and choose to lighten their load of excess food or fuel, they can bury it in the snow and tag it with a way point that A.L.E. staff members can locate to retrieve by vehicle at a later date. Then there’s nature’s call. Yellow snow is tolerated, but all solids must be buried six inches deep. O’Brady brought four rolls of toilet paper. Rudd is old school: He uses ice.