All we plan to do is cross Antarctica using our own devices and in the best style possible -
- that can’t be too hard can it?

The Australian TransAntarctic Expedition is the culmination of the 5 year Icebird project of Ben Deacon, Pat Spiers and Dave Goldie.
They have invented a fresh, groundbreaking approach to sustainable and viable long-distance travel on snow and ice by successfully harnessing traction kites to load-carrying sleds.

Antarctica is the world’s windiest continent. Its coastline is lashed by near permanent circumpolar cyclonic systems, while a permanent high pressure system over the continent itself feeds the reliable katabatic winds that flow from the three continental domes all the way to the coast.

Five years ago it was a Katabatic wind-map like this one that inspired the expedition team to sail across Antarctica.

Already experienced adventurers, the team nonetheless realised that they had a lot of work ahead of them if they were going to succeed, they launched an ambitious program of invention, training, testing and development, along the way they even had to unlearn many of the accepted orthodoxies of polar travel.

The expedition plans to travel from Novo base in Queen Maud Land to Cape Denison.

Ben, Pat and Dave will depart in late October, with supplies to be self sufficient for 100 days, but based on their previous 4 expeditions they expect this trip to realistically take 60-80 days, if conditions are ideal then they may be faster still!

Prudence and the Antarctic treaty demands self-reliance of the team, besides being seasoned polar voyagers, their simple kitesled offers a proven self-rescue platform and can be easily separated into three smaller sleds for conventional kite-skiing and manhauling on the windless days and in crevasse zones.

Most importantly the team are motivated to take on this voyage with a deep respect for the Antarctic wilderness, this is not a fly-in, aircraft supported and extracted trip to the American Amudsen-Scott base at the south pole, it is a low-impact, sustainable traverse of the whole continent, from one oceanic coast to another, undertaken by friends who share a love of the polar lands and this way of life.