The Irish Have Made It!
Published on 10.01.2008 - Beyond Endurance
Untold rapture for the Irish, who made it to the South Pole on January 8th. After crossing South Georgia Island last year, hard on the heels of Shackleton, the Beyond Endurance Expedition has this time successfully completed the Hercules/South Pole route.
At the end of this expedition, as uneventful as could be, we are offered a good example of how mental strength can overcome the physical state.
Perhaps our readers may remember some of the woes suffered by the members of Pat Falvey's Beyond Endurance Expedition. Pat Falvey, for one, suffered from backache of the worst kind. His suffering was so severe that he who never tired of reminding everyone of his 62 expeditions across the world. was forced to accept that his mates pull his sledge for him as long as his backache continued!
But, as the chances of success increased at the same rate as the remaining kilometres decreased, it seems that the pains of all have now disappeared, or in any event diminished. It should also be said that Lady Luck dealt them some much better weather and that the sky was blue throughout the final days.
A few days before their arrival, Pat Falvey was expounding not only on "the extraordinary feat that he was pulling off", but also on his age, his future plans, his next seminars and the club he is currently founding for the over-Fifties.
Be that as it may, all the members of the expedition reached the South Pole safe and sound on January 8th. They had spent 58 days on the ice.
