Irish adventurer Pat Falvey, who is on an expedition to the South Pole retracing the steps of Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton, said yesterday he hoped to reach his final destination within the next seven days.
If Falvey and his team achieve their goal, they will become the first Irish group to walk to the South Pole. Falvey has climbed Mount Everest twice and completed 30 expeditions across the world.
The South Pole team includes Clare O'Leary (35), the first Irish woman to climb Mount Everest, Jonathan Bradshaw (36) and Shaun Menzies (42), who was part of last August's successful Beyond Endurance Greenland Expedition, the first Irish team to traverse the Greenland polar plateau unsupported.
The group left Ireland on November 1st and are battling temperatures in the region as low as minus 27 degrees.
By yesterday, the team had got to within 98 nautical miles of the South Pole which was as far as Shackleton managed to travel before he fell foul of the treacherous conditions. Walking to the South Pole involves travelling more than 1,100km, with each member hauling a sledge weighing in excess of 150kg. The terrain is difficult, the weather unpredictable and as harsh as this planet can deliver.
The South Pole/Beyond Endurance expedition suffered a minor setback a few days before Christmas when Falvey injured his back. That forced him to transfer his gear to colleagues but he is now on the mend. Menzies also had problems with his feet over Christmas.
Yesterday Falvey posted a message on his website saying that the finish line was within reach. "New Year's Day was no different than any other, except that today we would be as far as Shackleton got, to within 97 miles of the Pole from the east of Antarctic, we would be the same distance from the Pole from the west.
"Now that we have passed this point, I'm feeling more confident that we will reach the Pole. There were lots of times on this expedition that I had my doubts if we would get there. We had terrible weather, serious injuries and soft snow that has made our journey harder, so success seems now to be within reach, cross fingers, no more bad weather or serious injuries."
Falvey (50), who is from Cork, started work in the construction industry, eventually swapping his concrete mixer for a set of crampons. He has successfully led 59 high-adventure expeditions worldwide and is the only person to have completed the Seven Summits challenge twice (to climb the highest peak on each of the seven continents), including Mount Everest from both traditional routes on the north and south sides. His expeditions have led him to the highest, coldest and most remote regions on our planet.
Falvey also led the first Irish unsupported traverse of the Greenland ice cap in August 2007 and took observations of the changes taking place due to climate change.
More information on www.patfalvey.comor www.beyondendurance.ie