Londres, 6 dic (EFE).- El veterano explorador británico Ranulph Fiennes emprende hoy el viaje al hemisferio sur para tomar parte en la primera travesía a través de la Antártida durante el invierno austral, acompañado por un equipo de cinco expedicionarios con los que cruzará el continente en una aventura que durará seis meses.
Esta es la primera vez que alguien intenta cruzar el continente blanco durante el invierno austral, un reto que supone recorrer casi 4.000 kilómetros de terreno inhóspito, en una oscuridad casi completa, y soportar temperaturas de 90 grados bajo cero.
"Este es el mayor desafío de mi vida. Vamos a forzar los límites de la resistencia humana. El Reino Unido y la Commonwealth (Mancomunidad Británica de Naciones) tienen una gran historia de exploraciones, desde el capitán (James) Cook hace 300 años. Por ello, es apropiado que sea un equipo de la Commonwealth quien logre finalizar esta expedición", escribió Fiennes en su página web.
Descrito como "el mayor explorador vivo del mundo" por el Libro Guinness de los Récords, Fiennes partirá hoy de Londres coincidiendo con el centenario de la muerte del capitán británico Robert Falcon Scott (1868-1912), poco antes de terminar su expedición polar.
Fiennes, de 68 años y Caballero del Imperio Británico, es la primera persona que ha logrado llegar al polo norte y al polo sur por medios terrestres, así como el primer expedicionario en cruzar la Antártida a pie.
La expedición que ahora lidera, bautizada como "El viaje más frío", se inicia hoy con un recorrido por el río Támesis a bordo del buque rompehielos sudafricano "SA Agulhas", que pasará por debajo del emblemático Puente de Londres, rumbo a la Antártida.
Durante su etapa en alta mar, Fiennes y sus compañeros de viaje recopilarán datos oceanográficos y meteorológicos con los que contribuirán con varias investigaciones científicas sobre el cambio climático en el polo y las alteraciones en la capa de hielo.
El próximo 21 de marzo, fecha en la que se inicia el invierno austral, los exploradores comenzarán su recorrido a pie desde la base rusa Novolazareskaya hasta el Mar de Ross.
Fiennes comenzó a considerar esta aventura hace veinticinco años, pero la descartó porque en aquella época los medios técnicos aún no la hacían posible.
El explorador lleva equipamiento de hasta 200 toneladas que incluye catorce trineos cargados de combustible y otros tres de última generación y mayor tamaño.
Dos de ellos funcionarán como viviendas y despensa, mientras que el tercero servirá como laboratorio científico.
Fiennes y su equipo han planificado todas las provisiones al milímetro y viajan con suficientes alimentos como para sobrevivir un año en la Antártida, el doble de tiempo de lo que esperan que dure su travesía.
Su dieta durante estos meses se basará principalmente en fruta deshidratada, suplementos nutricionales para deportistas y algunos platos precocinados como lasaña.
El intenso frío, con temperaturas de hasta 90 grados centígrados bajo cero, supone un riesgo para la supervivencia de los expedicionarios y el funcionamiento de sus vehículos, ya que puede ocasionar daños irreparables en los pulmones y problemas con el combustible.
Además, el invierno austral imposibilita que Fiennes y su equipo sean rescatados en caso de peligro durante su estancia en el continente blanco.
Con esta travesía, el explorador británico espera recaudar 10 millones de dólares (12,3 millones de euros), que donarán a la organización benéfica "Seeing is Believing" (Ver es Creer), para la prevención de la ceguera. EFE
The coldest journey: Sir Ranulph Fiennes launches Antarctic adventure
The Prince of Wales with Sir Ranulph Fiennes (centre) and crew aboard the SA Agulhas before it set off down the Thames at the beginning of the Antarctica expedition. Photograph: Lewis Whyld/PA
Visitors arrived on the SA Agulhas stamping their boots and rubbing their hands: it was -1C at the Thames, there was still frost on the gangplank, and mugs of steaming coffee were stone cold in minutes. But soon the tubby little South African ship will be facing temperatures that make a cold day in London look like sunbathing weather, and her crew will be heading into what the leader calls "the last great adventure", months on foot and by tractor through the perpetual darkness of the Antarctic winter.
This journey has never been done before, which is precisely why team leader Sir Ranulph Fiennes had to go for it. Besides, he explained, much as his hero Captain Scott would have said a century ago, if he didn't do it the Norwegians – who have already completed a winter traverse of the north pole – certainly would.
"The Norwegians do consider the polar regions to be theirs, and not for the Brits or the French to muck around in."
On a previous excursion, Norwegian media reported that Fiennes and the late Charlie Burton had taken a prostitute with them on the sledge. Fortunately his wife had witnessed their departure, and knew they hadn't packed one. "And anyway, at -40C, certain things are impractical," he said.
Fiennes first applied to the government for permission for the expedition, dubbed The Coldest Journey, almost five years ago, and got the permits 12 days ago. Initially they turned him down flat, he explained. They feared he would get into trouble, and since there was no possibility of rescuing him, that he would become "a national embarrassment".
Though Fiennes clearly regarded their caution as one more aggravation among many, betting on the explorer getting into trouble seems quite reasonable. He is 68, and has already survived cancer, a heart attack on the slopes of Everest, and surgery with the hacksaw he bought to cut off the tips of his own frost bitten fingers.
Nobody is quite sure what temperatures they will face: -70C is probable, but the coldest ever recorded in the Antarctic winter was -92C. They haven't been able to test in cold enough temperatures their unmodified human bodies and the heavily modified equipment, including tractors equipped with titanium spikes and adapted to run on aviation fuel, which will drag giant sleds carrying two 20-tonne sea containers converted into living quarters. The kit was tested in Sweden at a balmy -40C, and they couldn't get an ice chamber colder than -58C to test human response. At -70C "one deep breath and your lungs are gone," expedition co-leader Anton Bowring said. It will be his job to see that nobody does take that deep breath: "I didn't get any O-levels, but I reckon I'm brighter than most of this lot," he said cheerfully of his team-mates.
The expedition was dreamed up by Mike Stroud, Fiennes's medical officer and co-leader on many adventures. Stroud envisaged it as a quick dash in and out on skis. As the plans became increasingly complex – they hope also to raise $10m for the Seeing Is Believing charity to prevent blindness – he realised, rather sadly, he simply couldn't take the full trip time off work as a hospital consultant. The expedition proper will start on the ice on the winter equinox on 21 March, led each day by two skiers dragging a radar crevasse detector, hoping to spot chasms which might swallow the tractors and sledges whole. It should pass the south pole and cross the continent to reach the Ross Sea six months later, where they will have to camp out for months until the ice retreats enough to allow the ship through. Instead Stroud will fly to Cape Town with the others to join the ship after Christmas, sail to Antarctica, and then leave them a series of gruelling physical exercises, designed to test how the body copes with such extremes.
By the time the permits finally came through, the little ship, used for many years by South Africa as a supply ship into the Antarctic, and leased to the expedition at a bargain price, was already moored on the Thames, and being packed solid with equipment and supplies. These include a computer with a winter's supply of movies on the hard drive, e-readers for each team member with a library of books, cake mixture, and enough toothbrushes and toilet paper to last if disaster strikes and they have to wait up to a year for a rescue party to get through.
Although some high-energy freeze-dried food came from specialist expedition suppliers, much of it came from Waitrose, and though that could make a charming basis for the store's next Christmas ad, what happens next to the 40 aluminium supply crates might not. As each crate is emptied, Brian Newham explained, it will be filled with rubbish, including all the human waste packed into plastic bags: he doesn't think that freezing it first will be a problem.
As the winter dusk gathered, two people left the ship who probably both yearned to stay on board: Joanna Lumley, trustee of the expedition and self-confessed "fan and groupie", and Prince Charles. Tower Bridge then gradually lifted to allow the SA Agulhas to sail on down the Thames, and into the history of polar exploration.
The Guardian
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