Nine men and Two women Pioneer a New Route to the South Pole. In the winter of 1988-89, eleven courageous explorers battled winds of up to 50 miles per hour and extreme cold to cross the barren ice and snow of Antarctica. Their goal: to pioneer the first route from the Ronne Ice Shelf to the South Pole. Along this arduous journey, five died.

 

Part of their trip led over uncharted territory covered with two inches of powder on 7,000 feet of ice, with complications of constant antarctic cold, hurricane-force winds, and unseen crevasses. After 53 days, when they stood on the bottom of the world, they had accomplished an historic feat and achieved several polar firsts. They were the first Americans to reach the South Pole overland by ski; the two women of the expedition were the first women ever to reach the South Pole overland.