[ANAN-36/04]


A U.S. adventurer plans to ride his specially-designed, two-wheeled,
'polar ice bike' overland to the South Geographic Pole (SGP) from the
Patriot Hills in Ellsworth Land next month in what is one of the more
unusual non-government Antarctic ventures of recent years.


The 'Alone' expedition is being organised by the California-based
company 'Xstreme Climb', and one its principles, Doug Stroup, is to
attempt the SGP ride using a bicycle engineered for high latitude travel
by the U.S. cycle manufacturer Dan Hanebrink. Stroup is currently
guiding blind U.K. skier Miles Hilton-Barber on his trek to the SGP (see
ANAN-36/01 preceding and ANAN-35/01, 22 November 2000), and he has
indicated that after that journey is completed in January he will be
flown back to the Patriot Hills by air operator Adventure Network
International (ANI), have "two days rest", and then head south again on
his bicycle attempt.


Stroup says that during his planned bicycle traverse he will pull a 30
Kg sledge behind his cycle and that he will have enough food for forty
days, however he anticipates that he will take only twenty days for the
1,100 km journey. To achieve that the cyclist will have to average 50-60
km per day en route to the Pole, something that is normally only
possible with parasails or powered vehicles.


The bike that is to be used for the attempt appears to have had its
origins in the 'Antarctic Ice Prowler' project whose aim was to design
and build a bike for a research consortium that is constructing and
operating an astronomical observatory at the U.S. national program's
Amundsen-Scott station at the SGP. The original purpose of the cycle was
to assist station staff in moving between buildings at the Pole, some of
which are a considerable distance from the main station area, and to
provide 'recreational activities' in the vicinity. Two versions of the
bike built on frames supplied by Hanebrink Bicycles were tested at the
Pole over several days last January as part of U.S. national program
activity. Reports on that testing program are available on line at:
http://www.iceprowler.com/


The most obvious feature of the ice bikes that were tested are their
wide rubber tyres, which are from golf carts and have been specially cut
with deep, snow-chewing treads which are also fitted with wire chains.
The frame of the bikes are made of carbon fibre and gearing systems are
designed to allow a speed of around fifteen kilometres per hour to be
maintained in all except the softest of snow. Probably the biggest
challenge for the bike apart from crevasses on the proposed Pole ride
will be sastrugi.


While the precise details of the bike to be used next month are not
known, part of expedition plans include the production of a documentary
for television on the ride to be called 'Alone', the same title as the
book written by U.S. explorer Richard Byrd of his solo winter on the
Ross Ice Shelf seventy years ago. In order that filming can be
undertaken during the bicycle trek a helmet-mounted camera and built in
sound recording devices will be used by Stroup in what the expedition
believes will be an "unusual and candid story" of the exploits of a
"modern-day explorer".


Stroup's previous Antarctic visits have included climbing and snow
boarding on Vinson Massif and in the Antarctic Peninsula region during
the 1999-2000 austral summer (ANAN-17/02, 15 March 2000). The 'Alone'
expedition's web site claims that Stoup "is considered one of
Antarctica's foremost explorers" because of his activities over the last
twelve months on Vinson Massif, in the Antarctic Peninsula, and on the
current traverse to the Pole with Hilton-Barber. Despite modern
knowledge, many non-government expeditions still refer to their members
as 'explorers', and sometimes display a limited knowledge of polar
history in their attempt to attract interest in their activities from
the general public.


Stroup says that he plans to donate the bike to the renowned Smithsonian
Institute in the U.S. if he completes the journey to the Pole. ANI are
expected to provide search and rescue cover for the venture and fly
Stoup back to Chile via the Patriot Hills following what is planned as
his second arrival at the SGP this season. Other details of the
expedition can be found on the Xstreme Climb web site at:
http://www.xstreamclimb.com/