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An extreme polar trek across the coldest,
windiest and driest continent on earth,
this is no small undertaking
The expedition aims:
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To be the first team of medical students worldwide to reach the south pole.
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To have the first insulin dependent diabetic to the reach the south pole
with no resupply.
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To have the youngest British person to reach the south pole.
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To conduct original medical research into enabling diabetic care in an extreme environment.
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To raise awareness and promote healthy living within the diabetic community.
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To promote inclusivity within the extreme sports community.
The team, all students from St George's
Hospital in south west London, will be retracing a proportion
of Dr Edward Wilson’s route from the Beardmore Glacier to
the geographic South Pole. The team will then return to Patriot
Hills using specialised kites. This expedition is kite-supported
with no resupply. The team will be hauling approximately
150kgs each, everything needed for the two month expedition.
So why do it? The team is looking forward to being
the first team of medical students to reach
the pole and will also take great joy in knowing that they
are following in the footsteps of Dr Edward Wilson who was one of Scott's
team to reach the pole 100 years ago, and who was a former medical student
from St
George's, University of London, the team's medical school. |
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Average temperatures will be around -30ºc and
with Antarctica being the windiest continent on earth, temperatures
are expected to drop to around -50ºc,
which is twice as cold as the average freezer.
The continent has around 29 million cubic km of ice, 90% of all the ice on
the planet, and between 60 and 70 % of all of the world's fresh water. Remarkably
it is also the driest place on earth, having no water, only ice.
Each team member is expecting to eat around 6000 calories per day, three
times the average daily intake. Hauling 150 kg sleds for up to 12 hours will burn
plenty more calories than this and the team expects to return signifcantly
thinner than when they left.
Training has already started and the team is making three
major training trips to Iceland (March, 2006), Norway (April 2006) and Arctic
Finland (May, 2006) as
part of their Antarctic preparation.
The total extremesouth
expedition budget is £250,000 and the team seeks a title sponsor
to assist them in completing their mission.
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