Davor Rostuhar is the first Croatian to attempt reaching the South Pole unassisted (without the use of dogs, wind, motor sled or any external energy source), unsupported (without getting food or gear delivered) and solo. He is a photographer, adventurer and writer.
Hercules route from the Ocean to the South Pole
The expedition is 1.200km long from the coast of Antartica to the South Pole and the route is called 'Hercules'. So far, this route was done by only 23 people in history. Interestingly, there were more people in space than reaching the South Pole unassisted and unsupported like this.
Unassisted and unsupported solo expedition to the South Pole
Davor is planning to do it in 50 days and is publishing notes from the expedition here (in Croatian though). He is in his fourth week so far seems to be going strong. His average distance is has been 34k per day, which takes 12 hours of walking time, moving in -12 degrees. In the beginning of the trip, the sleds he is pulling with his support gear weighted 130kg. As he says: 'I am a recreational athlete. With right training, you can get fit for this activity. The biggest challenge is the mental one.' In his most recent post, he describes the thrill of seeing Thiel mountain range after 600km and 20 days of walking in the monotonous flat surface.
600km and 20 days of moving through the flat wilderness of Antarctica
As a part of his expedition, he has put together a very holistic and insightful series of educational posts about the Polar part of the world. It is based on his own experiences from living with peoples and reading about the region. Here are a few interesting facts from his writings translated to english:
Davor has been preparing for the expedition in Norway and Greenland and one of the training took place in Croatia. He is now in his fourth week and has done more than half of the way. As Davor noted in one of his talks, his inspiration is Roald Amundsen's motto: 'with right physical preparation, you can achieve any goal without too much effort', echoing Roald's expedition to the South Pole. He achieved it 1 month before his rival Robert Falcon Scott and has not lost a kilo of weight. In other words, luck favors the prepared. Still, fingers crossed it all goes smooth.