The first Finnish South Pole expedition 2008 Kari Poppis Suomela and Pasi Ikonen will ski unsupported to the South Pole in December 2008. The Finnish expedition's journey across the World's coldest continent, Antarctica, is over 1000km long and will take about 50 days to complete. During this time the two-man expedition will be fighting against extremely low temperatures, freezing winds and physical exhaustion. Their mental strength will be tested on a daily basis. Sleds weighing over 100kg each and the ice cap rising to 3000 metres will also slow the expedition down.
Both team members are familiar with long expeditions. Photographer Kari Poppis Suomela was part of the Finnish North Pole expedition 2006. Only 32 people in the world had reached the North Pole unsupported before them. Ski guide Pasi Ikonen skied across the Greenland ice cap with an international expedition the same year.
There's only a handful of people who have skied to both Poles worldwide. When reaching the South Pole, Kari Poppis Suomela will be the 12th person in the world to reach both poles unsupported.
During their expedition Kari and Pasi rely on Suunto t6 and Suunto X10 sports instruments, as well as on Suunto Orca and Suunto MC-2D compasses. Suunto will follow the expedition and publish news about its progress. You can also check out expedition's website at www.thepole.fi/indexengl.php/
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