Steffen Dahl : Out too !

Published on 05.12.2011 - Steffen Dahl Expedition SP

Although at the pole, his expedition was unsuccessful

Bad luck for Norwegian adventurer Steffen Dahl : after a normal progression of 36 days, he became suddenly ill. Without knowing the nature of his pain, he asked to be airlifted.

This Norwegian sportsman (34) has a dream : to become a polar explorer. And to 'do' both poles in one year. Although he as successfuklly reached the North Pole earlier this year (on 15 April), this time he was unfortunately less successful. He made a good progression during 36 days ; he was then at about 200 km from the South Pole, having started from Hercules Inlet. He slowly started dreaming about the SP !

But then, he fell suddenly ill, he had pain everywhere and on 1 December -the day 34 of his trek-, he wrote : "After one hour ski, my body suddenly became unable to march another meter forwards. For the present time, the weather and terrain conditions are OK and I shoiuld be able to make at least 25 or even 30 km under these conditions. So far everything has been OK ; the food, the sleeping, my equipment, the tent, the skis, etc. But today, everything seems to be out of control. Il have to call it a day. ..."

Two days later, being more and more ill, Dahl called the ALE logistic and was airlifted by a cargoflight on 4 December, the day 37 of his trek. His last position was the following : 88° 04' 39" S / 81° 26' 36" W.

Before being transported to Union Glacier base camp, he had the opportunity to get off the plane a while at the Amundsen Scott American base at the South Pole. There he began to sing the first verse of the Norwegian National anthem. The story does not tell if Stefen Dahl was standing at attention or not...