Neetu Chandak | Education and Politics Reporter
An American man made history Wednesday after successfully traveling across Antarctica without any support or resupply.
Portland, Oregon, resident Colin OBrady, 33, traveled 930 miles over 54 days, The Associated Press reported Thursday.
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. 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 Antarcticas 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. Im delirious writing this as I havent 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 its done.” – Nelson Mandela. #TheImpossibleFirst #BePossible“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,” OBrady wrote on a Wednesday Instagram post. “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.”
Others have traveled across Antarctica, but generally with some sort of support, like being able to resupply or have kites to move them forward, according to The AP.
OBrady started his journey with nearly 400 pounds of gear that was pulled on a sled. He faced other challenges besides walking in the frigid weather that often went below -20 degrees Celsius. He battled 30 mile per hour winds for eight hours on Nov. 18. OBrady also traveled in a whiteout on Nov. 14.
“Im usually uncomfortable all day, from the second I step outside and the -25 degree temp stings my face,” OBrady wrote on a Nov. 26 Instagram post.
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British explorer Henry Worsley tried to travel Antarctica alone in 2016, The AP reported. He died, however, due to exhaustion. English adventurer Louis Rudd was competing against OBrady to be the first person to travel across Antarctica solo in honor of Worsley.
OBrady will wait for Rudd to finish.
“His intention is to wait for Louis and have kind of a celebratory moment with the only other person on the planet to have accomplished this same thing,” OBradys wife, Jenna Besaw said, according to The AP.
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