Felicity Aston reached the SP today 21 December
Published on 21.12.2011 - Kaspersky One TransAntarctic Expedition
On 19 December, Aston hoped it was not some kind of miraging effect as she caught sight of a big hill on the horizon.
In fact Briton explorer had not seen a mirage ; the next day she could see the South Pole station on the horizon! A long dark blob less than 10Nm away! And on 21 December, she finally touched her goal at 4 pm, NZ time. "I was met by friends", she said, "and am now warm and well fed..."
But as for the group of four tourists guided by Christian Eide, she also has another leg on the counter : going back by herself until Hercules Inlet. She is going to get her resupply first and then she should leave quite soon the Amundsen Scott American research base.
Being interviewed by Rebecca Varley for 'Speakers From the Edge', she has declared : "The mental pressure of being out here alone has really taken me by quite by surprise," she says. "I expected it to be tough, and I did a lot of mental preparation, but when that plane dropped me off on the far side of Antarctica, it makes you feel extremely vulnerable."
"My lighter stopped working the other day. And suddenly you realize that without lighters, I can't light my stove, I can't make food, I can't make water," she says. "All the time, you're sort of on the brink of disaster. But it's getting better. I'm getting used to it."
