One month to Antarctica

One month today, weather permitting, I’ll be flying from Punta Arenas, Chile to Union Glacier Camp, Antarctica.   It’s my third visit to my favourite continent.  In 2004, I travelled by boat across the Drake Passage to climb several unnamed peaks on the Antarctic Peninsula.   I returned by plane in 2010 to climb Mount Vinson, the highest peak in Antarctica, as part of my Seven Summits challenge.  This time the plan is to ski the last degree of latitude to the South Pole.

Preparations are going well, although training has definitely been a challenge this time.  I picked up a knee injury cycling from Land’s End to John O’Groats in the summer.  That kept me out of action until October, when I was finally able to test out my knees on a climbing trip to Pequeño Alpamayo in the Bolivian Andes.  Since then I’ve slowly been getting back into decent shape in Cayman.  My main concern now is my weight.  The owner of Antarctic Logistics & Expeditions recently told a friend of mine that, because of the extreme cold, “the skinny ones never make it”.  So my plan for Christmas is to get as fat as possible.  Stay tuned for updates!

Guy