We well remember the duo of Rune Gjeldnes and Torry Larsen when the two young Norwegian adventurers became the first people to succeed in making the first crossing of the Arctic pack-ice (Cape Arktichevsky -> Cape Discovery) in 109 days, totally unassisted (spring 2000, see our report).

This time, Rune is setting out solo to cross the Antarctic from the coast of Queen Maud Land to Terra Nova Bay, the Italian research station located close to the coast of Victoria Land at 74°41'42" south, 164°07'23" east - via the Amundsen Scott base at the South Pole.

He hopes to reach the South Pole towards the end of January (1st trek of 2 200 km) and reach the Italian base by 10th February 2006 (2nd trek of 2 300 km). Undoubtedly one of the great adventures of the 2005-2006 season!

Scheduled departure: beginning of November 2005