Adventure Magazine

Spirits were high as the team celebrated a successful
expedition through the remote and inhospitable
regions of Antarctica.
Describe the others in the group? The expedition
was unique in the fact that we hadn’t spent a lot
of time together prior to departing. The expedition
was a joint New Zealand-Norwegian expedition,
in partnership with Ousland Explorers, and, would
be guided by Norwegian polar guide Bengt Rotmo
who has completed countless expeditions in the
colder parts of the world including crossing the
North West Passage by ski. Our team was led by
trust executive director Nigel Watson, who has
been a member of all the (8) IEE Expeditions
including Greenland crossing, South Georgia
Crossing, Mt Scott etc. Marthe Brendefur, a cyber
"Intelligence Analyst" and ex-Norwegian Armed
Forces member from Norway who skied across
the Greenland ice cap in 2019 and has traversed
the scandinavian high plateau at Finnmarksvidda
and Hardangervidda joined the team with a huge
amount of experience in the polar regions. Making
up the Kiwi contingent was 28-year-old Laura
Andrews, a firefighter at Auckland Airport, who had
completed heaps of incredible adventures around
the world.
"all were
used to being
out there on
the mission,
however
our polar
experience
ranged from
almost none
to world
leaders."
So the team had a mix – all were used to being out
there on the mission, however our polar experience
ranged from almost none to world leaders.
Pre the event were you scared? How many of
the other explores some of which did not return
did you read up before you left? I wouldn’t say
I was scared. There were some nerves mostly
around what it was going to be like operating in
such a cold and desolate environment day after
day. I constantly tried to find out – How was it going
to be? Would I enjoy it?
And then of course the team – most of us were
meeting for the first time in Punta Arenas to head
South. We had spoken on Zoom etc, but to be
thrown into an undertaking like this with people you
barely know in a place you no almost nothing about
was daunting and I guess a huge risk factor for the
success of the expedition.
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After 50 days on a blistery cold day, the expedition team arrives at
the South Pole, with the Amundsen Scott South Pole station in the
background. The flags in the foreground mark the South Pole and the
point that Roald Amundsen reached over 100 years earlier.