Antarctica - South Pole - Pole of Inaccessibility
Antarctica is on average the coldest, driest, and windiest of the continents, and it has the highest average elevation. It is also the fifth largest continent. While Antarctica is covered in ice, on average 1,9 km think, it actually holds one of the world's biggest mountain ranges and holds most of the world's fresh water.
For 3 years the plan was to fly out from Chile and start with climbing an unclimbed peak in the Thiel Mountains, then ski 500 K to the South Pole and ski-kite back to the coast at Hercules Inlet in 2021. Travel restrictions and other issues made us postpone the expedition, and maybe it was for a good reason. It gave us the opportunity to rethink our plan once more. Again, we decided to Dream Bigger!
We are taking on a tougher challenge: we’re planning a 4000 km ski and kite crossing of Antarctica. It’ll be the longest kite journey in history by a woman and the first-ever concert on the Pole of Inaccessibility.
Why are we doing this
Siv is on a quest to do the longest Antarctic crossing for a female (we are talking Guinness World Records) and be the first person in history to have climbed the 7 summits, 7 volcanoes, and reached both poles while bringing new vibrations to these extreme remote locations.
We’re doing this because we want to take the world of adventure to the next level, show that a woman can be first in history and that culture is an important part of storytelling. As our fellow Norwegian explorers did more than 100 years ago, we are bringing music in as an important element on our expeditions.
With the polar regions particularly vulnerable to climate change, we will be taking observations and measurements which will give European Space Agency and the scientific community better insight to the polar environments.
In addition to Håkon composing music from our expeditions, we will tell stories and share pictures, so that people who cannot go to these remote locations can experience them through our stories. We hope that our expedition will educate people about the continent of Antarctica – its unique places and history. We aim to inspire others to dream big in their lives.
What is the plan
We fly out of South Africa and are staring at sea level. The first part of the expedition we are going up to the Antarctic plateau with an elevation of 3200m above sea level. On our way we will be passing the beautiful mountains of Droning Mauds land, Norwegian territory. We cannot wait to see these beautiful mountains.
With a starting weight of 125kg in our sled, the first part is expected to be the hardest part of the expedition. Gaining 3000 meters of elevation in just 200 km.
The Antarctic plateau is a forbidding place - cold, windswept and remote, with rarefied air. This of course is part of the attraction of an expedition to Antarctica and the South Pole, to experience one of the most exacting environments on earth, including facing constant winds, fields of sastrugi, and white-out conditions.
From the Dronning Mauds mountains we set the course towards the southern pole of inaccessibility (POI). POI is the point on the Antarctic continent most distant from the Southern Ocean. This lies 878 km from the South Pole, at an elevation of 3,718 m and is far more remote and difficult to reach than the geographic South Pole.
There are just a handful of people who have been at the POI, so when we arrive there we'll celebrate with a concert. If we are lucky the statue of Lenin is still visible there.
After the celebration we'll continue onwards to the geographical South Pole, before we head out to the inner coastline with Hercules Inlet and fly out from Union Glacier to Chile.
This expedition into the Antarctic wilderness will test our skill, endurance and mental tenacity as we make our way across the continent. Our plan is to complete the expedition within 60 days.