The Coldest Journey Is the First Ever Attempt to Cross the Antarctic Continent During the Polar Winter
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1. Expedition Overview & Objectives The Coldest Journey is the first ever attempt to cross the Antarctic continent during the polar winter. Led by Sir Ranulph Fiennes ‘the world’s greatest living explorer’ (Guinness World Records), the expedition will start on 5 December 2012 when expedition members and equipment will depart to Antarctica by ship from the Thames to the Lazarev Sea cost in Antarctica. The traverse will take place between the two seasonal equinoxes, 21 st March – 21 st September, with the ice team travelling from Novo to the Ross Sea in the Antarctic winter. During this six month period the expedition team will have travelled 2,000 miles, mostly in complete darkness in temperatures as low as –90°C. Throughout the time on the traverse, the expedition team on the ice and the ship will undertake a number of scientific tasks to provide unique data on glaciology, marine life, oceanography and meteorology. The ultimate objective is to complete The Coldest Journey while raising USD10 million for Seeing is Believing. In addition to this the five main goals of this expedition are: 1. First winter crossing The primary objective of The Coldest Journey is to achieve the first ever winter crossing of the Antarctic. Famously Captain Scott attempted a 60 mile winter journey in 1911, described later as ’the worst journey in the world‘. Led by Sir Ranulph Fiennes, this expedition will cover 2,000 miles during the six months from 21 March to 21 September 2013, at temperatures as low as –90°C. With a winter crossing of the Arctic having recently been completed by a Norwegian expedition, this is the last major polar challenge remaining. 2. Charity/Fundraising The expedition will raise USD10 million for Seeing is Believing: a global initiative to tackle avoidable blindness in developing countries. Eighty per cent of the world’s blindness is avoidable with very cost effective interventions e.g. a sight-restoring cataract operation costs as little as USD 30 and a pair of glasses as little as USD16.. Seeing is Believing is a collaboration between Standard Chartered and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB). Since its launch in 2003, the programme has reached over 28 million people. Every $ raised is matched by Standard Chartered, doubling the impact on the ground. 3. Science As well as conquering this final frontier of polar exploration, the expedition also aims to make a decisive contribution to understanding the effect of climate change upon the poles. CryoSat-2 (an environmental research satellite launched by the European Space Agency in April 2010) is designed to track changes in the mass of the polar ice caps by measuring the distance to the surface of the ice to within ½ inch. Year-round calibration on the ground is the only way to validate this data, so the readings taken by trained members of the Ice Team will form a vital part of this research. This work is one of five international scientific projects which have been selected by the Science Committee including mapping the height of the landmass using new GPS techniques and taking core samples to establish the water flow from the ice sheet. The Ice Team will also be sampling for cryo-bacteria capable of withstanding the extreme cold conditions. Page 1 of 22 In addition, the expedition will house scientists on board its ice-strengthened Antarctic supply vessel SA Agulhas, a ship supplied by the South African Marine Safety Authority. The Agulhas’s scientific team will make detailed meteorological and other environmental observations on behalf of a number of research bodies around the world. 4. Education The expedition offers a unique opportunity to generate diverse, engaging, real-time educational content for schools. Microsoft is developing a bespoke password-protected platform for this purpose that will be continually updated and managed using cloud technology, and will be accessible to more than 43,000 schools in the UK and over a hundred thousand schools throughout the Commonwealth. Using its on-board Iridium Open Port system, the SA Agulhas will play a vital role in providing interactive and real- time educational content on the science and Commonwealth activities undertaken by the vessel and its crew throughout the voyages to and from Antarctica. Students will also be able to follow the Ice Team’s progress, take part in competitions, and study fully integrated curriculum modules. These courses are currently being developed by Durham’s Education Development Service – one of the UK’s leading education resource providers – in partnership with Sir Ranulph Fiennes, Dr Mike Stroud and the expedition scientists, engineers, mechanics and Anton Bowring, the marine organiser. 5. Technological Innovation The fact that it is only now that this challenge is being attempted is testament to the sophistication of the technology required. Caterpillar’s dealer in the UK and Ireland, Finning is modifying two D6N track-type tractors to tow two specially engineered cabooses. These will house the crew, equipment and fuel for six months in temperatures that can drop as low as –90°C. For those operating outside the cabooses, the expedition team has developed specialist clothing containing battery- powered heating filaments which will protect the extremities from what will be an ever-present threat of frostbite. Special breathing apparatus has been provided by TopOut Masks to protect the lungs, as prolonged inhalation of air at these temperatures can cause permanent damage. Iridium is supplying satellite communications equipment that will make it possible for the Ice Group to relay back image and video content from a part of the world that is completely inaccessible by aircraft in winter due to the adverse conditions. Page 2 of 22 2. Key Messages 1. The Coldest Journey is considered the last remaining major polar challenge and its completion will mark a world first. • Using the very latest technological innovations, this epoch-making journey will pave the way for a new dawn in Antarctic exploration. • A life endangering expedition with no search and rescue facility available, it will test the limits of human endurance. 2. The Coldest Journey is attempting to raise USD 10 million for Seeing is Believing, the global initiative to prevent and treat avoidable blindness. • The Coldest Journey’s lead sponsor, Standard Chartered, will match, dollar for dollar, all donations made to Seeing is Believing. • The charitable initiative, Seeing is Believing, is a collaboration between the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) and Standard Chartered, the lead sponsor of the expedition. 3. The Coldest Journey will provide a unique opportunity to carry out a number of scientific tasks in the extreme Arctic environment. • Scientific research will provide unique data on glaciology, marine life, oceanography and meteorology. • To help validate data from the European Space Agency environmental research satellite, the expedition will map the profile of the ice cap en-route. • The team will help determine the potential diversity of extreme psychrophilic (‘cold-loving’) bacteria in Antarctic snow. • Two projects have the objective of highly sensitive isotopic analyses of water from samples of surface snow. Scientists can use changes in the ratio of oxygen and hydrogen isotopes as an indirect measure of large-scale patterns of Antarctic moisture transport (water movement from one geographic location via the atmosphere to another geographic location) and temporal changes in Antarctic surface temperature (e.g. comparing different years in the same location). • During the winter, the team will experience similar conditions in Antarctica as those found in space. The objectives are to analyse social, occupational, environmental and psychological adaptation in this extreme situation and to couple this with effects of such isolation on biological/hormonal markers related to physiological stress. 4. The Coldest Journey will have far-reaching educational value and study opportunities encompassing maths, history, geography, biology and physics for the next generation of explorers and researchers. • Over 43,000 schools across the UK will have the opportunity to interact with the expedition through web- based education tools. Page 3 of 22 3. Key Facts Key Facts 1. Life-endangering facts • The journey from the Russian base of Novoloskaya to Captain Scott’s base at McMurdo Sound, via the South Pole, will take six months – mostly in complete darkness – and will cover more than 2,000 miles. • Antarctica is the coldest place on Earth in the winter, with temperatures falling as low as –90°C. The winter temperature is frequently as low as –70°C. • The Foreign & Commonwealth Office has never before granted a permit for a winter expedition in Antarctica. The expedition has had to prove that it meets environmental and planning criteria. • The expedition team will have to be entirely self-sufficient. There will be no search and rescue facility available as aircraft cannot penetrate inland during winter, due to darkness and risk of fuel freezing. • This is considered the last remaining polar challenge: 1958: 1 st crossing of the Antarctic 1969: 1 st crossing of the Arctic 1979-82: Transglobe Expedition led by Sir Ranulph Fiennes – only expedition ever to circumnavigate the globe on its polar axis 2010: 1 st winter crossing of the Arctic completed by Norwegian expedition Winter crossing of the Antarctic never yet attempted • The expedition, led by Sir Ranulph Fiennes, departs from London in the centenary year of Captain Scott’s death in the Antarctic in 1912. • The crossing will start on 21 March 2013 and finish by 21 September 2013, but due to the difficulty of reaching the coast in winter the team will not be able to begin the journey back to Britain until January 2014, arriving there in March 2012 2. Charity Facts • Seeing is Believing, a charitable initiative that raises money to prevent and treat avoidable blindness, is a collaboration between the International Agency for Prevention of Blindness (IAPB), Registered Charity No: 1100559 and Standard Chartered, the lead sponsor of the expedition.