Richard Parks battles to keep within touching distance of world record
Richard Parks is now 9 days into his expedition to ski, solo, unsupported and unassisted from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole as fast as possible.
So far it’s been a gruelling slog for Richard in some of the worst snow conditions Antarctica has seen in years. So much so that expedition reporters have dubbed the season “To quit or not to quit!”
2018 Antarctica pictures by @HamishFrost
Yet despite the uncharacteristic and global warming-like balmy weather, creating huge amounts of precipitation and deep, wet snow, Richard is still 32.6km further than he was at this point in his 2013/14 expedition where he set a new British record and the second fastest time in history.
One of Richard’s aims for his expedition, named Team Quest was to challenge Christian Eide’s incredible solo, unassisted and unsupported coast to pole world record of 24 days and 1 hour. The Norwegian set the new world record in 2011 in good conditions and you can hear more about that record, and from Christian in Richard’s podcast episode: ‘A whole lot of history’.
Richard and Christian are the only two people in polar history who have skied solo, unsupported and unassisted from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole in under 30 days. Nobody else has recorded similar kind of distances and speeds per day, for such a sustained length of time.
Richard at the South Pole in 2014.
Richard is currently around 70km behind where Christian Eide, the world-record holder might have been at this point in 2011. It’s not surprising given the weather conditions he has faced - but the fact that it’s even still statistically possible for Richard to claw back the deficit after such terrible snow conditions proves just how hard he has been pushing to stay within the slightest of touching distances.
In his daily update on Sunday 23rd December, Richard reported that his frustration with the deep, soft snow had got the better of him; “I took 2 hours off to cry in my tent this afternoon”, he stated. On Christmas Eve, he added; “Forget my pulk, it’d be easier to drag the sofa in these conditions under foot!”
However, yesterday could have marked a turning point in the expedition and offered a ray of light and hope. For the first time in nine days, Richard reported firmer ground; “Terrain has changed from cloud marshmallow snow to a disorganised lunar type. Firmer today”.
The weather conditions are finally set to be more ‘Antarctic like’ with less precipitation and sunnier, colder days over the next week. Richard now has to up his daily averages by around another 4.7km a day on top of what he had already planned to ski and/or put some monumental days in of well over 50km to make up the deficit to world-record pace. It’s a tough ask considering his legs have taken a huge battering over the first 8 days, manhauling his 55kg sled through the deep, wet snow. But this is what he has trained so hard for and you can’t control the weather - Richard can only do one thing: fight on, and give it everything he has.
What also comes in to play, when the margins for success and failure are so small and under the microscope, is food. Richard has taken 25 days worth of food with him on the expedition, around the same as what Christian Eide took in 2011. Travelling light is a science in itself when you are operating at this kind of level of polar performance. Calories, sums, exertion levels, have all been painstakingly planned for months on end to the nearest gram. Richard now has to get to the South Pole within his food rations safely, creating another dimension to the Antarctica pressure cooker.
Adding to that potent mix of what it means is Welsh and British pride. American Colin O’Brady finished his Antarctic expedition today becoming the first person to complete a solo, unsupported and unassisted traverse of Antarctica, reaching the finish line ahead of Britain’s Louis Rudd. O’Brady won the marathon race between the two. The traverse is a completely different expedition to that of Richard’s solo speed record attempt (it’s like comparing the 200m to the men’s marathon in Athletics, or comparing Usain Bolt with Mo Farah - these are totally different expeditions), but none the less, the recent news of success at the bottom of the world, rather than yet another expedition dropping out, should hopefully spur Richard on.
What has come sharply into focus for Richard over this troublesome first week is aim number two for his Team Quest expedition: to provide learning opportunities for young people and business leaders, using adventure to inspire them to have the courage to think beyond boundaries.
“I kept saying before I left that this project is about something bigger and it really has to be because it’s been absolutely friggin’ miserable out here! If it wasn’t for the collective purpose of the project, motivation would be really tough”, he stated on day 03. Once again the incredible support on social media from all over the UK and of course, in his home country of Wales has helped keep Richard’s spirits high, he added; “Thanks for all your messages of support, they mean a lot and give me a lift. There’s a long way to go yet, I just have to keep chugging along”.
Join the #TeamQuest community and follow Richard’s daily tracking stats and updates on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
To find out more about the calories Richard is burning every day, and much more, listen to the latest episode of the behind the scenes podcast - Richard Parks: Antarctica. Available on iTunes, Spotify and on all podcast platforms.
