SOLO TO THE SOUTH POLE
Orkney Theatre, Kirkwall
On 17 January this year Ben Weber reached the South Pole after a 58-day, 700-mile trek alone across Antarctic ice and snow.
Born in Orkney, where his parents lived in Stronsay and then Stromness, he decided nine years ago to develop a new pattern of life, with a vision of a global journey cycling south through the Americas; skiing across Antarctica; cycling back north through Asia and then skiing across the Arctic Ocean. He returns to Orkney to tell the story of his journey to the Pole.
Tickets £6 & £4 can be booked through this LINK.
“Every day presented incredible challenges. From the steep climbs up from Hercules Inlet at the start when the sled was at its heaviest, to the gradual climbs up towards the plateau. The sharp and short snow “dunes” as you get past the half way mark and get ever closer to the end.
The incredible variations in snow conditions, with all the sastrugi – from the small, irritating formations to the massive structures as large as buses that you had to work out a way to go around, through or over. The soft snow that sapped the energy and slowed you down to a snail’s pace, and the compact snow over which you could fly! Sawdust snow, hard ice. Whiteouts hiding all the different obstacles that rested metres in front of you.” – Reflections at the South Pole on 17 January
