Departing on December 3, 2007, the ANI Messner Route South Pole Expedition of Merete Gjertsen (Norway), George Szwender (Canada), Alison Levine (USA), Bernice Notenboom (Netherlands) and guide Eric Philips (Australia), will begin from the edge of the Ronne Ice Shelf in west-Antarctica. This point is significant in that it is on the edge of the geographical coastline of Antarctica - all ice to the north lies on the ocean, all ice to the south lies on land. 

Initially the team will follow the edge of the giant Foundation Ice Stream, a large 'glacier' fed by the colossal Antarctic ice sheet. (An ice stream is a flow of ice within an ice cap whereas a glacier is a flow of ice within a mountain system). Of course crevasses are natural features of any flowing ice and will keep the team on their toes.

Climbing between the spectacular Thiel and Pensacola Mountains (where the team will replenish supplies from a pre-positioned cache), the team will gain access to the austere Antarctic plateau, over 2000m above sea level. Here the air is cold and brittle and the surface like a great white ocean, features symonomous with the plateau.

With it's cold and monotony, this high region of Antarctica is the most difficult to negotiate mentally, but at this stage the team will have become acclimatised to both the environment and the workload. The excitement closing in on the South Pole also creates a positive effect. 

After 40 days of skiing the ANI Messner Route South Pole Expedition will be at the bottom of the world, the South Pole.

View team profiles here.