Todd Carmichael Expedition Earth South Pole 2008 Update: The Final Push??

All eyes have turned to Todd Carmichael and his attempt to become the first American to go solo and unsupported to the South Pole.  Over the last few days, Todd had caught up with Hannah McKeand’s world record pace.  He had projected possibly arriving at the South Pole today and in doing so, hopefully beating Hannah McKeand’s South Pole record.  I stayed up late lastnight waiting for the latest update from Todd.  Unfortunately, Todd didn’t update.  This could be due to a number of factors including equipment failure, or Todd is just concentrating on making that final push to the Pole.  Currently his tracking system has him sitting roughly 28 nautical miles from the Pole.

Here is the latest update from Todd Carmichael’s Expedition Earth South Pole 2008 Expedition:

I did not receive a call from Todd last night, though he did activate his secondary beacon locater, the so-called “Yellowbrick”, which intermittently transmits his coordinates. Though he has certainly moved ahead since the latest transmission was sent, the Yellowbrick showed Todd a little more than half way through the final degree. This would put him still some 28 nautical miles from the South Pole.

The two likely reasons Todd has not called in: most probably he is completely focused on making a huge final push to 90 degrees south over this last day or two and is content to update us later. There is also the possibility he has been unable to charge the sat phone or has had some other issue with it.

I will update this site as soon as I have any new information.

Here are the current conditions at the South Pole: 11.5 mph winds, 17 F (-27 C), with the windchill it is -38 F (-39 C). Visibilty is good with few clouds.

I have received several questions asking what Todd will see when he reaches the Pole. It is going to be a radical departure from the weeks of isolation in an often featureless landscape. Todd’s destination is home to the relatively bustling Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, a research facility that has been staffed continuously since 1956.

Here is the station’s website:
http://www.nsf.gov/od/opp/support/southp.jsp

Also check out Bill Spindler’s very cool South Pole Station site: http://www.southpolestation.com/

Since Todd’s sat phone can only hold a limited number of text messages (if indeed it is working at all), he may not have received all the notes that have been sent his way. To make sure your message eventually gets through, I would encourage everyone to take a moment and sign his guestbook using the link to the upper left.

Hopefully we can all exhale soon.

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