Richard Dunwoody's Antarctic Expedition

[crazyhorse]

At 12 noon on Saturday (as we settled down to racing from Newbury), Richard Dunwoody MBE, Doug Stoup and James Fox were dropped off by ski equipped DC3-67 on the Filcher Ice Shelf on the edge of Antarctica to begin the most physically demanding section of the previously unconquered route to the South Pole – the Interchange Shackleton South Pole Expedition 2007.

On Day 1, they covered 7km. They increased the distance covered to 13km yesterday but are faced with white out conditions this morning. Please visit www.beyondshackleton.com to receive daily dispatches and photographs from the team. Richard posted some news on audio yesterday and you can receive team updates by registering your details in the appropriate place.


The 660 mile trek continues with a climb up the Slessor Glacier to a height of 3,000m (10,000ft). Breathing will be difficult on the climb due to the low level of the earth's atmosphere at this point. This is equivalent to climbing to 4,000m (13,200ft or Mt Blanc) After climbing the glacier and in the weeks leading up to Christmas, the team will face the Great Crevasse Field, which has never been crossed on foot before.

All of this will be done whilst pulling 250lbs pulks (almost one and a half times their body weight) at temperatures as low as -50 degrees centigrade and burning 8,000 calories a day.


Richard’s expedition is being sponsored by The Interchange Organization Ltd. (www.interchangefx.co.uk), the London based foreign currency brokers who have clients across the racing industry. Throughout Richard’s trip Interchange are offering preferential rates to new and existing clients. They are also donating 1% of the value of any transaction to Richard’s charitable fund, for any account opened during the course of the expedition.


Richard is also being sponsored by the UK’s No 1 supplement for horses, humans and dogs (www.cortaflex.co.uk)


Richard’s trip (as well as to push himself to the limits!) is to raise funds for SPARKS (www.sparks.org.uk) Spinal Research (www.spinal-research.org) and Racing Welfare (www.racingwelfare.co.uk). Details of how to donate can be found on www.dunwoody-southpole.com.

Otherwise, further news will be posted every week and more frequently as Richard and the team approach the pole – sometime in mid January.


INTERESTING FACT: Richard is allowed one book on the trip and opted for the Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. His i-pod contains a History of Britain from the 16th century (Mastermind here we come!)

URGENT NEWS: If you need to contact Richard urgently, please e mail info@lizampairee.com – he can also receive e mail messages in their morning daily dispatches, again via us.

[harry]

shrug:: Why?

[clivex]

He should chill out FFS (gone to right place for it i suppose)

Agree with harry shrug::

[uncle goober]

If he was really hard he would do it without gloves or even putting his hood up.

[rorydelargy]

Ironically, Goober's just posted a pic of Dunwoody's Antartex expedition on the Hennessy thread. D'you see what I've done there?

[uncle goober]

So smooth , unlike the artex on my ceiling. ( see that?!)

[Harbinger]

You've got a Breeders Cup sprint winner on your ceiling?

[Grey]

Originally posted by clivex@Dec 5 2007, 12:37 PM
He should chill out FFS (gone to right place for it i suppose)

Agree with harry shrug::

The whole thing leaves me cold.

[crazyhorse]

I know, nobody interested, but here we go !

Richard ’10 Rhinos’ Dunwoody is in fine spirits, in spite of pretty difficult conditions on the 650 mile INTERCHANGE SHACKLETON SOUTH POLE EXPEDITION 2007.

We hope you are all looking at the photos (one attached) and listening to the lively daily audio updates on www.beyondshackleton.com – check out Richard’s dated 11 December for a fascinating insight into what he thinks when he is pulling his 250lb sled (“why is my sled so heavy… why is ‘iron-clad’ Doug going so fast…why is my sled so heavy…why is my sled so heavy… I hate my sled”….)

After almost two weeks, the team have so far travelled 166.4 km’s (102.5 miles) with at least two days shrouded in white out conditions when the visibility has been down to as low as two metres and the progress extremely SLOW - 10.6 kilometres (in 11 hours) on the worst day as compared with 22.2 on the best.

Another hazard that Richard, Doug and James have encountered are the dangerous crevasse fields where they have been forced to zig zag. On one occasion, Doug fell in to a 300 metre crevasse up to his armpits – a very nasty moment (Richard’s audio dated 8th December has a good account).

Their progress is also slow on days when they have to pull the heavy sleds up hills. This often entails two men pulling one sled at a time and it’s activities like this which burn maximum calories, on average 8000 a day, often more. The guys cannot take in this many calories in one day so are losing about 2500 a day – the equivalent of one man’s daily intake (thus Richard weighing in at 12.7 when he left for the expedition – the heaviest he has ever been!).

In the freezing conditions it takes two hours every morning to boil enough water for the days requirements so the team get up at 6.30 a.m to be ready to leave by 8.30a.m. Some days the temperature is as low as minus 30 degrees or more with wind chill so it is vital to have enough sustenance to combat these conditions.



Message from Richard: Thanks so much for all of your messages and e mails, please keep them coming…..(e mail info@lizampairee.com - messages get sent every few days and are read to Richard over the satellite phone from the US base).



Christmas Day: Richard will be live from Antarctica on Radio 5 Live at approx 3.45pm on Christmas Day (have lunch, watch the Queen, grab a glass of champagne, tune in to Richard!)

Richard’s trip is to raise funds for SPARKS (www.sparks.org.uk) Spinal Research (www.spinal-research.org) and Racing Welfare (www.racingwelfare.co.uk). Details of how to donate can be found on www.dunwoody-southpole.com. PLEASE MAKE SOME GENEROUS CHRISTMAS DONATIONS TO THE BENEFIT OF OUR CHARITIES

INTERESTING FACT: Richard has just listened to the latest Dick Francis on his i-pod and highly recommends it!

:xmassnowgrin:

[Kathy]

I'm interested, Crazyhorse!

Brendan Powell rode in that charity race held at Kempton on the 21st October so my partner and I went along to support him, Richard and his chosen charities. Brendan came 2nd in the race! It was a great afternoon and it was great to meet so many of the "old" jockeys who were all invited to a nice lunch. After the day Richard was on on target to raise about £35k!

I have met Richard on several occassions, and his lovely Mum, Gill who I was able to have a good catch up with having not seen her for over a year. Richard's father was there too although he did appear a little frail.

I have been following Richard's South Pole Expedition and will be sending him a message on Christmas Day! :xmassanta:

[Kathy]

I saw Richard's Mum at Newbury today and I think the plan is that Gill will speak to her son live on Radio Five Live on Christmas Day afternoon! I understand he is doing very well on his expedition so far.

[Kathy]

Latest Update of Richard's (and James's) expedition.

Subject: White Christmas, White Out and a nip of Galway Scotch as Dunwoody treks into 2008!


Whilst the majority of us were hastily finishing our Christmas shopping, the three man team on the www.interchangefx.co.uk Shackleton South Pole Expedition 2007 were experiencing far more drama and frustration on the edge of the world in Antarctica.


Unfortunately, James Fox was feeling the ill-effects of the altitude and strain plus an adverse reaction to the dehydrated food and was forced to abandon the expedition and be picked up by plane. Having had to clear a runway for the plane on the 20th December (and therefore having travelled only 1km on that day), the team had their hopes dashed when the plane seemed to almost touch down before heading off into the sky again, with the pilot stating that conditions were not safe to land (see picture attached).



The next morning Richard, Doug and James set off to find a more suitable landing site for the plane. They travelled 10.1km before deciding on a spot where they prepared a runway, literally digging it out of the ice with shovels and ice picks. Unfortunately bad weather conditions at Novo base made it impossible for the plane to take off so another wasted day when time on an expedition such as this is always critical. The team decided to continue moving south the following day - with James - to find another landing place. In spite of the difficulties, they managed to cover a total of 31.3km on a great skiing day. Next day, they prepared yet another runway and this time James was finally picked up by a DC3 on Christmas Eve at about 6pm.



With just each other now for company, Richard and Doug were able to do just over 7 km before pitching their tent ready for a much longer trek the next day. They set off on Christmas morning with a gritty determination to start piling on the miles. Richard did several interviews on Christmas Day including Sky News, Sky Sports and Radio 5 Live. He has found the going quite tough over the past week or so but in typical Dunwoody style, keeps pushing himself forwards. With the increasing altitude and the fresh snow, which creates more friction on the runners of the sleds, it has been very challenging. Whiteout conditions have developed on a couple of occasions and they have had to cross more crevasse fields as well as encountering some energy sapping climbs. The only way to replace the vast amount of energy they are expending is to EAT. Richard has already lost about a stone and a half in weight and is snacking all the time on chocolate, nuts and energy bars to replace lost calories. It’s very different from when he was pushing his body to the opposite extremes to lose weight as a jockey.



The weather was comparatively mild around Christmas with both Richard and Doug posing for photos with far too few clothes on - see www.beyondshackleton.com.

Only comparatively mild, however - around minus 23 degrees! This shows just how much their bodies have acclimatised to the harsh conditions and how they simply can’t afford to lose any further weight through sweat. These conditions at altitude though have caused them to suffer from coughing and headaches, which we are assured are nothing to do with the 18yo Galway Scotch with which they saw in the New Year.



Now on the polar plateau the two man team are back on schedule after all the delays in waiting for James to be picked up. All being well, they still aim to reach the Pole between the middle and end of January. The temperatures are lower now - on January 2nd down to nearly minus 40 with wind chill - and they woke up on the morning of the 3rd to find their sleds buried by snow. As of the 2nd Jan they had treked a total of 643.7km (400miles) and have approximately 437.7km (272miles) to go to reach the Pole.



Both Richard and Doug are in great spirits, relishing the challenge. They thank everybody very much for the messages which they receive every evening - and wish you all a very Happy New Year.



Please do keep logging on to the two websites, www.beyondshackleton.com and www.dunwoody-southpole.com , and please, please also donate to Richard's three charities, SPARKS www.sparks.org.uk, Racing Welfare www.racingwelfare.co.uk and Spinal Research www.spinal-research.org – see the websites for details.



Richard would like to again thank The Interchange Organization Ltd www.interchangefx.co.uk for their continued support. Throughout Richard's trip, Interchange, the London based foreign currency brokers with clients across the racing industry, are offering preferential rates to new and existing clients. They are also donating 1% of the value of any transaction to Richard's charitable fund, for any account opened during the course of the expedition.



Richard is also being supported by Cortaflex (which him and Doug are both taking every day) the UK's no.1 supplement for horses, humans and dogs www.cortaflex.co.uk.

[Kathy]

A little birdie told me that Richard (assuming all continues to go to plan) could be reaching the South Pole very close to his 44th Birthday which falls this week!

[Kathy]

Latest:

“The toughest thing I’ve ever done” is how Richard has described this gruelling 650 mile expedition over unconquered territory to the geographic South Pole, but still covering distances of 30km’s a day at minus 45 (a bit of physical exhaustion is not something that has ever stopped the ex Champion Jockey before) Richard and his fellow explorer, Doug Stoup, will reach their destination, probably this FRIDAY 17th January, Richard’s 44th Birthday.

January 2008 started with the www.interchangefx.co.uk Shackleton South Pole Expedition passing the 88th parallel and now down to just two men following James Fox’s departure, the team has made fantastic progress over what has possibly been the most mentally and physically challenging part of the expedition. Richard and Doug have both lost more than two stone in body weight and although the weight of their sleds has decreased (still over 13 stone), in proportion to their body weight there is not much difference from the beginning of the trek, when they were strong, healthy and fresh.


With long days of pulling their sleds up inclines and over snow drifts and sastrugi - some up to 1 metre tall - in blowing snow and icy headwinds, both men are exhausted. Temperatures on the polar plateau have been much lower than earlier in the trip and along with this, the current altitude of 2868 metres has been taking its toll.


The team now have less than 50 miles to cover and an ascent to 3100 metres and will then enter the history books as the first expedition to conquer the pole via the Shackleton route.

[clivex]

shrug::

[BlazingWalker]

Dunwoody reaches Pole target



by Racing Post staff
.

RICHARD DUNWOODY celebrated his 44th birthday by successfully reaching the South Pole on Friday morning.

The three-time champion jump jockey was said to be extremely tired but elated at the feat.

Dunwoody and team-mate James Fox have walked the 650-mile journey southwards as part of the Interchange Shackleton South Pole Expedition in temperatures that have plumetted to -30C.


:clap: Congrats to Richard & James on an amazing feat. Oh,& happy birthday too.

[zebs]

Well done Richard @ James . what a way to celebrate his birthday .... :clap: