If you will be participating in the Ski to the South Pole program, the overall success of the journey that you will be undertaking will be centred around the preparations that you make beforehand. Physical and mental training, selection and modification of equipment and practice in its use, a well balanced diet and a TOTAL commitment to achieve the goal of the South Pole are all key elements. Participants should be in excellent physical condition and have the ability to carry a 40lb pack for 8 hours a day. You should look at your few months of preparation before your departure as an integral part of the journey - as the key to the ease and enjoyment of this unique experience. Every moment of preparation at home will be rewarded on the ice. Cross-country running or walking will be an ideal way to prepare. Travelling on foot for several hours a day will build up stamina.  Running covers much greater distances than walking in the same time, but walking with a heavy backpack is practical.  However, running with a pack is almost impossible!    You should try and mix both. Doing exercise every day is always a good idea.  If you build up your running to an hour, not on track but on rough terrain, through fields, up hills, across the most difficult terrain you can find, then the results will stand you in good stead for the journey.  When walking, do the same.  If there is an easy way and a hard way to overcome a problem, take the hard way.  Rather than keep to a paved track, walk or run in the long grass beside it.  Climb over a stile rather than open a gate, and if there is a muddy field next to a smooth field, then trek through the muddy one!

The Route

This journey from the edge of the frozen Antarctic continent to the South Pole is 730 miles rising from close to sea level up to 9000 feet, over glacier ice, ice cap and mountain passes. It commences during Antarctic spring, when the sun never sets. The travelling is mainly over snow, with occasional ice and rock. There are no plants or animal life here. The patches of bare ice can be cupped, sloping and very slippery. The snow itself is blown by the constant wind into bizarre formations called sastrugi ¡V rugged looking sand dune like features that may reach six to eight feet high and are a test to pull a sled through. There are few crevasses on the route, so we plan to travel unroped most of the time. Weather The weather in this section of Antarctica is generally clear and windy. The sun is above the horizon 24 hours per day and the Antarctic high pressure area usually gives clear skies. Winds of typically 10-20 miles per hour blow from the pole towards the coast. Temperatures range from minus 10 degrees C (plus 14 degrees F) at the beginning of the journey, to minus 30 degrees C (minus 22 degrees F) close to the Pole. With the bright sun and dry air the temperature seems warmer. The sun on the tents at night should raise the inside temperature to above zero. Scheduling Obviously on an expedition of this nature the schedule is ever-changing. We hope we have made allowance for weather and equipment to both the flying portion of the journey and also into the skiing portion of the journey. We have allowed 6 storm days for the journey, which from our experience, should be ample, though it is important to remember that we will move at the speed of the slowest group participant and that travelling days will be dependent on good weather. sled Hauling We anticipate that the sleds with all our food and camping equipment will weigh in the order of 100lbs at the most. This weight will drop as food is consumed between food caches.