Solo Across the Frozen Wilderness (A. Linsdau)
Expedition News-Official Website
From 23.10.2012 to - Status: abandoned
A solo trek go and back to SP
© Expedition website
A young San Diego resident, adventurer Aaron Linsdau (38), wants to become the first American to complete, solo and without any means of assistances (no kites), the classical Hercules Inlet -> South Pole trek - 1 450 miles trip.
Local resident Aaron Linsdau (a Carlsbad software engineer), is attempting to be the first American to ski solo and unsupported from the edge of Antarctica to the South Pole and back in winterl 2012. He will ski alone, without food or fuel resupply, for 1 430 miles.
Unlike many other polar adventurers, Aaron will use no kites or any other means of assistance.
The window to complete the expedition is short - 85 days (in fact, the austral summer).
On average, Linsdau will need to ski 17 miles per day while dragging (at the beginning of his voyage at least) 330 pounds of food, fuel and equipment. He will drop four supply caches along the way for the return trip, as he will be returning on the exact same route. This enables him to cut weight and increase his speed as he proceeds towards the SP.
Linsdau : “I want to raise awareness for prostate cancer. A simple blood test can help save the one in six men who will be stricken with it. Early detection saved my dad from prostate cancer and I want to help other men survive this disease..."
Many tourists or trekkers or even professional adventurers have tried with success the route Hercules Inlet (or Messner Start) -> South Pole ; but quite few have done the return trip with success. People from ALE (Antarctic Logistics and Expeditions) said last week : ”Nearly half of all round-trip expeditions to the South Pole fail. A one-way ski trek from the coast to the pole is challenging, let alone the round-trip. Between 2004 and 2010, 116 skiers completed ‘all-the-way’ [1-way] ski expeditions to the South Pole and 25 people failed to complete their journey, a failure rate of nearly 22%.”
These expeditions only attempted half of the distance Linsdau hopes to conquer.
Linsdau's first expedition was in 2008 when he trekked the Arctic Circle Trail in Greenland, covering 100 miles in the treeless tundra. Since then, he has completed three treks through and around Yellowstone in the dead of winter, dialing in his equipment and technique.
