Updates from Canadian Pushing Hard in Antarctica

We recently interviewed Laval St. Germain, who is making his way across Antarctica his way for the Explorer’s Grand Slam.

St. Germain is hoping to complete a two-in-one expedition: solo ski to the South Pole, followed by an ascent of Mount Vinson, Antarctica’s highest mountain. St. Germain has sights on a few goals with this expedition.

Read out pre-expedition interview with St. Germain here.

He’s on his way! “Slept well & was pulling through deep powder by 0930h. Slooooow going for hours in heavy snow. Once the climb began snow turned into wind slab that slowed me down to about 200m or less every 30min of hard pulling. I was leaned completely over in the traces heaving & cursing with all my might while listening to Jordan Peterson on Audible telling me to stand up straight! Dodged a few small crevasses & was then on hard blue ice with no traction for my skis’ skins, but slowly pulled through & was then on small sastrugi. In my tent, big winds & snowing outside. Good day to get the body gradually tuned to this new regime!” -LS #southpole #adventure #getoutside @albertacancer

A post shared by Laval St.Germain (@lavalstgermain) on Nov 24, 2018 at 7:50pm PST

Updates

On Nov. 28, St. Germain updated the world from Antarctica with: “Yesterday was a bit of a slog into a cold stiff headwind & near zero visibility, just kept a compass bearing & pulled south. Sun peeked out for a few hours as I made camp & then was gone a few hours later. Windstorm last night but the tent held-up great. Once again I started the day digging out my pulk and tent and loading up in a snow blasting wind with zero visibility.

“Fortunately Jim’s forecast of sun today occurred! So nice to finally charge some electronics using my solar panel and sit in a tent warmed by the sun…great to be able to dry my gear as well, pulling on pants & a jacket everyday that are frozen stiff isn’t much fun. Have been doing 8 hrs per day of hauling & today made just over 20 km. In a few days I’ll start doing 9 hrs per day & keep cranking up the daily skiing time as I progress south.

“Scenery was gorgeous today as I pulled away from Three Sails, three nunataks protruding from the ice. Tried to take a pic but camera was frozen…such is life in Antarctica.”

This is what camp looks like for Laval as he makes his way to the South Pole. His sled weighs 250lbs, so after a long day of pulling, getting this tent set up is key – it gets him out of the wind and provides a chance to rest. There’s basically no darkness this time of year at the planet’s far south end. #southpole #antarctica #ski #camp #adventure

A post shared by Laval St.Germain (@lavalstgermain) on Nov 26, 2018 at 9:24pm PST

“Good day out here! Complete whiteout for 7.5 hrs which meant following compass bearings all day. Last 30 min sun appeared, perfect timing! No blisters, gear working well & loving being out here in the white!” -LS #southpole #antarctica #stepoutshoveoff

A post shared by Laval St.Germain (@lavalstgermain) on Nov 25, 2018 at 3:59pm PST