Longwood man Mike Dann to head Polar challenge

Mar 13 2010 Huddersfield Daily Examiner

EXPLORER Mike Dann is gearing up for his toughest challenge.

The Huddersfield man will head a team aiming to trek more than 3,000 miles across Antarctica – the world’s most inhospitable continent.

If the four-man team succeeds they will establish a new world record for the longest unsupported crossing of Antarctica.

And they will also be marking the centenary of the year of the challenge in 1910 which started the famous great race to the South Pole, in which Roald Amundsen beat Captain James Scott.

Mr Dann, of Longwood, is no stranger to exploring hostile regions of the world.

He has tackled expeditions in places ranging from Chile to Africa and in 2006 he headed the winning team in the Sony polar Challenge, a 320-mile “sprint” to the North Pole.

But this year’s planned assault on Antarctica is recognised as one of the toughest-ever projects.

Dann and his team – Tim Tottenham, Simon Edmundson and Paddy Scott – have labelled themselves as Polarice.

They will have to cover more than 3,000 miles of the coldest, most remote landscape on Earth where the ice can be a staggering two miles thick!

Here, summer temperatures struggle to get above -20°C and monthly means fall below -60°C in winter. Vostok station holds the record for the lowest ever temperature recorded at the surface of the Earth at -89.2°C.

And they plan to do it all using their own strength, pulling sledges known as pulks which will weigh 250kg when fully laden.

During the trip they will do research for the University of Utrecht on environmental issues.