200 years ago to the day, the continent of Antarctica was discovered, arguably kicking off the race to the South Pole that culminated in the golden age of Polar exploration. The expeditions of men like Peary, Nansen, Amundsen, Scott and Shackleton have inspired adventurers to this day. For them, it was all about being the first to achieve something – first to cross Greenland, first to the Poles or first to cross Antarctica. Since then, Polar exploration has become it bit more confusing. Here’s my attempt at explaining the history and what to look out for when reading about Polar – and especially Antarctic – expeditions.
Antarctica season is always a special time of the year for Polar aficionados, like me. In a span of not even three months, dozens of explorers are out there working towards the goals they trained and planned for – often for many years. The 2018/19 season gave us an exciting struggle for the – supposedly – last real first out there, with Louis Rudd and Colin O’Brady both going for an unsupported and completely human powered traverse. In comparison to the media buzz created especially by O’Brady last year, this season may appear kind of slow. This perception may have been reinforced by the fact that due to weather delays, a lot of this year’s explorers only got on the ice at the end of November, which means it took till well after Christmas to hear of the first arrivals at the Pole. But the 2019/20 season stands out for another reason as well: for the first time in my memory, it’s the women dominating the headlines. Here’s a list of some of the amazing women who just wrapped up their expeditions.
The polar exploration community is currently buzzing with news about Colin O’Brady and Loius Rudd. Both are taking on a challenge nobody has successfully completed, yet: a solo traverse of Antarctica via the South Pole, unsupported, and using only human power. You can follow Lou Rudd’s journey on his sponsor’s website, and Colin O’Brady on his Instagram or his own website. These expeditions stand out because they are one of the last supposed firsts out there to achieve for polar explorers. Since the first humans set foot on the Antarctic continent explorers have always found ways to add more challenges to their journey or make it unique in some way or another to qualify for that precious “first” label. Let’s take a look at some notable firsts in Antarctic history.