The Coldest Journey was a
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...
Commonwealth-supported expedition to
Antarctica
Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...
with the aim of becoming the first team ever to cross the Antarctic land mass during the polar winter. The endeavour aimed to raise more than $10 million for
Seeing is Believing, a global charitable initiative which aims to eradicate avoidable blindness in developing countries. The team used
cloud-based web technologies to connect with schools across the world as part of an educational programme designed to inspire a new generation towards high achievement. The project also performed scientific research and collected climate and weather data from Antarctica during the expedition to further the understanding of the
effects of climate change
The effects of climate change impact the physical environment, ecosystems and human societies. The environmental effects of climate change are broad and far-reaching. They affect the water cycle, oceans, sea and land ice (glaciers), sea level ...
on the
polar regions
The polar regions, also called the frigid zones or polar zones, of Earth are the regions of the planet that surround its geographical poles (the North and South Poles), lying within the polar circles. These high latitudes are dominated by float ...
.
Team
The expedition had three main components: the Ice Team, led by Brian Newham after Expedition Co-Leader
Sir Ranulph Fiennes
Sir Ranulph Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, 3rd Baronet (born 7 March 1944), commonly known as Sir Ranulph Fiennes () and sometimes as Ran Fiennes, is a British explorer, writer and poet, who holds several endurance records.
Fiennes served in the ...
had to pull out due to injury, the Marine Team led by
Anton Bowring (Expedition Co-Leader), and the Operations Team led by
Tristam Kaye (Global Operations and Programme Manager).
The Ice Team was made up of Brian Newham (leader (formerly traverse manager)), Robert Lambert (expedition doctor), Ian Prickett, Spencer Smirl (lead mechanic/driver), and Richmond Dykes (mechanic/driver).
On 25 February 2013, Fiennes abandoned the expedition and was evacuated to
Princess Elisabeth Station, due to
frostbite
Frostbite is a skin injury that occurs when exposed to extreme low temperatures, causing the freezing of the skin or other tissues, commonly affecting the fingers, toes, nose, ears, cheeks and chin areas. Most often, frostbite occurs in the han ...
suffered while attempting to fix a ski binding without gloves at . The rest of the team set off from Crown Bay on 21 March 2013 under the leadership of Brian Newham. They had until the September equinox to complete the traverse successfully in winter. Most of the expedition was carried out in complete darkness and in temperatures as cold as or lower.
Journey
The team detected many
crevasses
A crevasse is a deep crack, that forms in a glacier or ice sheet that can be a few inches across to over 40 feet. Crevasses form as a result of the movement and resulting stress associated with the shear stress generated when two semi-rigid pie ...
on its way to south pole. The progress was very slow and the team covered only (of a planned ). It found a crevasse field extending up to 100 km and the team concluded that it was too dangerous to attempt to cross these crevasses with heavy equipment. On 18 June 2013 the team officially halted its expedition to cross Antarctica and decided to focus the remainder of the time on scientific experiments.
References
External links
The Coldest Journey
{{Polar exploration, state=collapsed
Antarctic expeditions
United Kingdom and the Antarctic
2013 in Antarctica