Mateusz Waligóra is expected to reach Antarctica’s Amundsen-Scott scientific research station at the South Pole of the Earth within 60 days, according to the organisers.
“I’ve dreamed of a journey to Antarctica since I was a kid and despite the passage of years, the dream has endured,” the explorer said.
He has spent years gaining the necessary experience, including during long-distance sojourns through Greenland, the Gobi desert in East Asia and the Andean Mountains of South America.
Cold, wind, crevasses
Waligóra will begin his unaided march on skis in mid-November, starting from the Hercules Inlet near the Ellsworth Mountains, and heading south for the heart of Antarctica, his team told reporters.
The explorer said he wasn’t afraid of the cold, even though temperatures may fall below minus 40 degrees Celsius.
“However, there are things that are unpredictable. Namely cracks in the surface and wind,” Waligóra added; his aides noted that wind may exceed 150 kph.
The explorer said: “I’ll be alone, there’ll be no one to pull me out of a crevasse. I’m taking a satellite phone with me, but whether help can be provided will depend on the weather conditions.”
Mateusz Waligóra.
Raising awareness about climate change, mental health
Waligóra will be posting daily updates from his journey to the South Pole on his Facebook.
Meanwhile, as during previous expeditions, his team will also take to social media to raise awareness about climate change, which is clearly gathering pace on Antarctica, in the form of rising temperatures and the melting of the ice sheet.
Waligóra added: “I would also like to highlight the issue of mental health crises. I’ve suffered from depression myself and feel for the first time that I could say more about it and use the expedition to raise awareness about mental health disorders.”
Mateusz Waligóra.
Fourth Polish explorer to reach South Pole?
If he reaches the South Pole, Waligóra will become only the fourth Polish explorer to do so alone and unaided, after Marek Kamiński, Małgorzata Wojtaczka and Jacek Libucha.
Those who wish to support the expedition financially, can do so here.
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Source: Dominik Szczepański, press officer for Mateusz Waligóra’s 2022 South Pole Expedition; rmf24.pl