Around 11th November 2021 my daughter, Leanna, and I will be flying out of the UK to the Antarctic to attempt the Hercules Inlet route  to the South Pole;  1,130km of sledge pulling in extreme conditions.

After months of uncertainty as Chile closed its borders to foreigners due to COVID, they recently announced the opening of their borders on 1 October 2021so our expedition to the South Pole now looks a little more certain.

We will be flying out of Heathrow via Santiago and then onto Punta Arenas to meet the rest of the team, Mark Cadman and our guide Andy Chapman.   From Punta Arenas we will fly into the Antarctic to Union Glacier.

The route to the South Pole we have chosen starts from Hercules Inlet, on the edge of the frozen Antarctic continent and finishes at the Geographic South Pole.  A journey of 1,130km (702 mi), the expedition will take around 55 days of actual skiing on the ice. During this, we will be skiing for 7-10 hours a day whilst pulling a sled with all of our supplies- which weigh 60-80kg (132-177lbs) 

We will experience all types of weather on the expedition facing constant winds, fields of sastrugi (ridges formed by the winds erosion of the snow) and white-out conditions.  The temperature will range from  -25°C to -40°C with windchill bringing it down to around -50°C.

The days are filled with 24-hour daylight and there is an intense solitude and tranquility out on the plateau that can be found almost nowhere else on Earth.

Out of all the expeditions we have done, this one is by far the most demanding and hopefully the most rewarding as we are privileged to experience a continent like no other and one few people have had the opportunity to experience.

We are using our expedition to raise funds for cancer support charity ‘Yes To Life’  (www.yestolife.org.uk) as my wife, Jenny, was diagnosed with Breast Cancer in late 2019; she received excellent treatment from the NHS, and felt that complementary support helped her through the experience and reduced the side effects. Today as we look to embark on our expedition, Jenny is really well and looking forward to a cancer-free life ahead of her. 

So any donation, however small will be gratefully received

Please feel free to visit our web site www.Theshutts.com where you can follow the daily blog and actual progress we are making through the tracking on the map

Thanks

Leanna & Mark