Tracking
the Journey
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Distance to go:
0 Mi
Distance
Ben and Tarka will cover 1800 miles starting from Scott's Terra Nova Hut at the edge of Antarctica to the South Pole and back to the coast again. That's equivalent to 69 back-to-back marathons hauling up to 200kg each (the weight of roughly two adult men) of kit and supplies necessary to survive.
Distances here are shown in statute miles.
Meet Ben and Tarka
For those who don't already know them..... here's a video intro to Ben and Tarka (filmed last weekend in Iceland as they prepared to depart for their current expedition to Greenland).
Comments
# herb, September 15th 2013
You do ice and snow…and that’s it? Congrats on your fine accomplishments, however you seem to always tread in essentially the same safe and shallow water.
# Alastair Humphreys, September 17th 2013
Hi Herb,
Whilst you do acknowledge the guys’ accomplishments, I’m surprised to hear you describe them as taking place in the “same shallow and safe water”. I don’t think many people who’ve crossed Arctic leads en route to the North Pole would have considered them particularly safe. Or shallow.
Moving away from the metaphor though, I don’t think Ben and Tarka should apologise for being specialists. Anyone can be a dilettante. But striving for excellence is more difficult. It requires experimentation, practise, innovation, honing and persistence. This ought to be lauded not looked down at.
People who push boundaries are always people who specialise and polish, peeling away layers in search of the essence of their craft. They make the difficult appear simple. Bob Dylan nailed it, as ever, when he described himself as “just a song and dance man.”
And Teddy Roosevelt was bang on with his speech about the Man in the Arena, I assume you’re familiar with that?
Best Wishes,
Alastair Humphreys
(Dilettante at Large)
# Heidi, January 27th 2014
I’m with Alastair: “People who push boundaries are always people who specialise and polish, peeling away layers in search of the essence of their craft. They make the difficult appear simple.”