TRAVERSIA POLO SUR (Hercules Inlet -> pôle Sud)
Martin Echevarria, Carlos Castillo, Marco Cayuso, Marcus Tobia and Carlos Calderas

Thursday January 26th
The four venezuelian alpinists Martin Echevarria, Marco Cayuso, Marcus Tobia et Carlos Calderas, have arrived safely at the Amundsen Scott american base at South Pole. They have skied during 67 days without using the help of powerkites. And have been airlifted to Patriot Hills the day after.
Carlos Castillo who had to be evacuated because of severe frostbite on January 16th has been transported to South America four days later ; he is resting in an hospital in Punta Arenas and recovering allright.

Sunday January 15th
The Venezuelans seem to have run out of luck: they have been halted for the past three days 224 km from the South Pole because one of their number, Carlos Castillo, has been suffering from serious frostbite to his hands and feet for a number of days now. They are waiting for the right weather conditions so that a Twin Otter can take off from Patriot Hills and bring them aid. The plane will also bring supplies, which are beginning to run short, so they will also be bidding farewell to the sacrosanct “unassisted” tag with which they had hoped to crown their expedition.

Tuesday January 3rd
While the other adventurers who cross the entire Antarctica are freezing to death, these guys have to sleep outside the sleeping bag because ourtside temperature is too hot ! Minus 7°C only !
On December 27th, they celebrated the half on their voyage to SP. In their daily dispatches, these Venezuelians have no particular story to tell, they go steady, skying most of the time and averaging about 20-21km daily.
Since December 30st though, one can point out that they start to think quite a bit about food. "Despite our diet of about 4750 cal a day, everyone of us has lost between 10 and 15 kg since we left Hercules Inlet. This is of course much grease but also muscular power, in our legs as well as in our arms..."
Yesterday, having covered already 727 km, they were at 421 km from SP.

Monday December 19th
The daily average of 20 km that the Venezuelans have now set themselves is being maintained: 23.3 km on 17 December, 23 km the following day and 20.6 km on the 19th, even though they are having to walk, as was the case today.
Of course, their sledges are now less heavy than they were; the men calculate that since they set out from Hercules Inlet, they have consumed 150 kg of food and fuel. That equates to approximately 30 kg less for each man to pull along. The sledges currently weigh around 110 kg each.

Wednesday December 14th
The Venezuelans are making steady progress. They are averaging around 20 km a day, on skis or on foot. They get up early, at around 7 am, but do not start their day on the move until 10 am . They finish at about 7 pm . On 6 December, they celebrated passing the 200 km mark into their trek and, two days later, they passed 82 degrees South. The thing they are finding the hardest is the bad weather.

There are two other features that stand out during this period of the expedition. One: they are constantly coming up against banks of snow that slow down their progress. Two: at night they sometimes have to sleep out of their sleeping bags because it is so warm outside; on 8 December, for example, they recorded a temperature of just minus 7°C!

Sunday December 4th 2005 / 81°13'S / 80°13'
The four Venezuelans set out from Hercules Inlet on 20 November. Since then, they have had to stop for three days on account of the wind and white-out conditions. They are making their way on skis when they can. They passed 81º S on 2 December. Otherwise nothing to report.
Follow the progress chart on our map.