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US explorer finishes historic Antarctica crossing without help

Adventurer Colin O'Brady becomes first person to complete solo and unassisted 1,600km crossing of frozen continent from north to south.

O'Brady covered the final 124kms in 32 hours after deciding over breakfast to make one last final push.

O'Brady covered the final 124kms in 32 hours after deciding over breakfast to make one last final push.

A US adventurer has become the first person to complete a solo trek across Antarctica without assistance of any kind.

Colin O'Brady, 33, took 54 days to complete the nearly 1,600-kilometre crossing of the frozen continent from north to south.

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The explorer's voyage was tracked by GPS and live updates of the trip were provided daily on his website colinobrady.com.

O'Brady and an Englishman, Army Captain Louis Rudd, 49, set off individually on November 3 from Union Glacier in a bid to be the first to complete a solo, unassisted crossing of Antarctica.

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Day 54: FINISH LINE!!! I did it! The Impossible First ✅. 32 hours and 30 minutes after leaving my last camp early Christmas morning, I covered the remaining ~80 miles in one continuous “Antarctica Ultramarathon” push to the finish line. The wooden post in the background of this picture marks the edge of the Ross Ice Shelf, where Antarctica’s land mass ends and the sea ice begins. As I pulled my sled over this invisible line, I accomplished my goal: to become the first person in history to traverse the continent of Antarctica coast to coast solo, unsupported and unaided. While the last 32 hours were some of the most challenging hours of my life, they have quite honestly been some of the best moments I have ever experienced. I was locked in a deep flow state the entire time, equally focused on the end goal, while allowing my mind to recount the profound lessons of this journey. I’m delirious writing this as I haven’t slept yet. There is so much to process and integrate and there will be many more posts to acknowledge the incredible group of people who supported this project. But for now, I want to simply recognize my #1 who I, of course, called immediately upon finishing. I burst into tears making this call. I was never alone out there. @jennabesaw you walked every step with me and guided me with your courage and strength. WE DID IT!! We turned our dream into reality and proved that The Impossible First is indeed possible. “It always seems impossible until it’s done.” - Nelson Mandela. #TheImpossibleFirst #BePossible

A post shared by Colin O'Brady (@colinobrady) on

In 1996-97, a Norwegian polar explorer, Borge Ousland, made the first solo crossing of Antarctica but he was wind-aided by kites on his voyage.

O'Brady and Rudd set off on cross-country skis dragging sleds called pulks which weighed nearly 180 kilograms.

The explorer reached the South Pole on December 12, the 40th day of his journey.

He arrived at the finish point on the Ross Ice Shelf on the Pacific Ocean on Wednesday after covering a total of 1,482 kilometres.

Rudd is about a day or two behind.

'A solidified goal'

O'Brady covered the final 124kms in 32 hours after deciding over breakfast to make one last final push.

"As I was boiling water for my morning oatmeal, a seemingly impossible question popped into my head," O'Brady wrote on Instagram. "I wonder, would it be possible to do one straight continuous push all the way to the end?

"By the time I was lacing up my boots the impossible plan had become a solidified goal," he said. "I'm going to push on and try to finish all 80 miles to the end in one go."

The New York Times described O'Brady's effort as among the "most remarkable feats in polar history," ranking alongside the 1911 "Race to the South Pole" between Norway's Roald Amundsen and England's Robert Falcon Scott.

In 2016, an English army officer, Lieutenant Colonel Henry Worsley, died while trying to complete an unassisted solo crossing of Antarctica.

SOURCE: AFP
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