The Coldest Journey (Sir Ranulph Fiennes & Team)

From 25.10.2012 to - Status: ongoing

Sir Ranulph Fiennes is on his way to the Antarctic again

Sir Ranulph Fiennes is back in the Antarctic for a world first. He will lead a team of explorers to conquer the last great polar challenge: crossing the Antarctic in winter.

A team of nine explorers led by famous explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes will try to cross the entire Antarctica, from the russian base of Novolazarevskaya to the american base of Mc Murdo and the Ross sea. They plan to leave Novo around 21 March to arrive at SP 85 days later (about 2 200 kil).

Then they will proceed to the Ross iceshelf descending through the Leverett glacier and heading to McMurdo station where convoy should arrive 60 days later. Which is around 21 september 2013, six months after having left the other side of the Continent. But the expedition should not be back home before February 2014.

Here are the members of the expedition 'The Coldest Journey'

This traverse will be done with two convoys. These convoys are each composed of two skiers who are opening the route, one Caterpillar D6Ns who is pulling a caboose and probably several storages sleds behind. (for more about the convoy, visit this page)

From their Press Dossier : " ... A two-man ski unit will lead the traverse, while the rest of the team follows closely behind in a Mobile Vehicle Landtrain (MVL). The MVL will be made up of two Caterpillar® D6N track-type tractors which will pull two specially developed cabooses for scientific work, accommodation and storage, including fuel designed not to freeze...

" A winter traverse of the Antarctic is widely regarded as the last true remaining polar challenge and the expedition's success will reassert Britain's status as the world's greatest nation of explorers.

" A fund-raising initiative will run side-by-side with the expedition with the aim of raising $10m for Seeing is Believing to help fight blindness around the world.

" Having never been attempted, the expedition will also provide unique and invaluable scientific research that will help climatologists, as well as forming the basis for an education programme that will reach up to 100,000 schools across the Commonwealth. ..."

The Coldest Journey aims to raise US$10 million for Seeing is Believing, an international initiative which is tackling avoidable blindness. Every five seconds, someone in the world goes blind and every minute, that person is a child. Sir Ranulph and the team will take around six months to cross the Antarctic, during which time more than 2.5 million people will lose their sight needlessly.

Eighty percent of blindness is avoidable, and for as little as US$30, a person's sight can be restored..

For more information, please visit the offcial website.