“The first attempt to reach the South Pole and to return, unsupported”

In 1911, Roald Amundsen’s Norwegians became the first explorers to reach the Geographic South Pole from the Antarctic coast.

In 1993, Erling Kagge, also of Norway, became the first to reach the Pole unsupported – without resupply and under his own power.

This site covers the planning, preparation, training and execution of the first attempt to reach the South Pole and to return, unsupported.

John Wilton-Davies, an Englishman from Devon, sets out alone in November 2008 on the longest unsupported polar journey in history.
This is his story.

Diary